All's Fair in Love and War
by zcdragon64
Summary: A young man wakes up, but doesn't remember anything except for his name. But is it his REAL name? The day he wakes up, he runs into Shulk, and everything is in question. Even more so when he meets with Melia Antique. What made him forget everything and everyone he knew? What happened to him? Who is this man, and what will he be willing to do to remember who (and what) he is?
1. Chapter 1

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey guys. This is my first ever fanfiction here, so I hope it goes well. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer, because none of this has been planned out. I'm making it up as I go along. However, be warned. There are spoilers in this. Without further ado, the 1** **st** **chapter.)**

Chapter 1

Character POV

I remember seeing nothing but darkness and feeling weak before waking up. I remember that I did have a strange dream, but I cannot recall what that dream was, or what happened in it. If I do remember anything else, it's this word. Slash. Why did I know that but nothing else? Why am I feeling so weak? What happened to me before this?

I opened my eyes to find the blinding sun. I put my right hand up to my face in order to block it out. Slowly, I sat up, using my left arm for support. As my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, I could see I was in a large field of grass, surrounded by wildlife of all kinds. I only wish I knew what these creatures were. I also noticed that my vision is not centered. Strangely enough, it was sided to the left. What did this mean? Was something wrong with my vision? Did I do something to mess up my eyes? Already so many questions popping up in my mind, and more to come.

I stood up and noticed my clothes. I was wearing fingerless gloves that reached down to the middle of my forearms, and holes shaped like triangles on the backs of my hands. There was a sort of metal band around the end of both gloves. Was that to keep them from falling off perhaps? I wore a white tank top for an undershirt, a blue, long-sleeved, button-up jacket with a collar and all all of the buttons undone, revealing my undershirt. I had regular blue jeans with a normal black belt across the waist, red scarf around my neck, black socks that reached mid-calf length, and black tennis shoes. I also noticed what seemed to be another belt strapped across the middle of my upper body, from the top of my right shoulder to the bottom of my left hip. I reached back there and drew my sword to find it was of a unique design. The hilt of the sword had a black and red diamond pattern on it. On the bottom of the hilt was what I believe was some sort of dagger. It started to form another diamond, only near the end, it stretched and formed a small blade for the tip. In the center of the dagger, it had a hole that seemed to be the same shape until it got to the last tip on the bottom. The hole didn't stretch with the blade. It merely formed a perfect, well diamond. What was it with this blade and all these shapes right now? Anyway, the pommel of the sword was made of 2 pentagons. 3 of the sides, the sides closest to the hilt, were in no way separate. The last 2 sides of each pentagon, pointing up to the top of the blade, were apart from each other. In the center of each pentagon rested a triangular hole, so I could see the blade inside the pommel. It appeared to be a normal straight long sword, until I looked at the tip of it. There wasn't just 1 tip, there was 2. The sword looks as if it had split down the middle where the tip was supposed to be, leaving about 4 inches worth of space in between the 2 tips. 3-4 inches down, the metal made a 90 degree angle towards the center of the blade, made another 90 degree angle, turning it straight down for about 10-12 inches, leaving 2 inches worth of space the rest of the way down, and finally, another 90 degree angle towards the center and the 2 sides merged. Why is my sword made like this? Did I make it like this? Pushing those thoughts aside, I sheathed the sword again, and began to walk around to try and find out where I was.

As I was walking, I noticed a lot of rock formations. Some of which made natural arcs giants could walk through. Eventually, I found a dirt path. I looked down the path in both directions, wondering which way I should go. I decided the heck with it and just walk along the path, not caring where I was going. As I walked, I noticed a waterfall nearby. I decided to go over there and get some water, considering I felt I was overdo for this. Once I got to the waterfall, I cupped some water in my hands, and drank as much as I could. Thank the Bionis it was fresh. As soon as I was done drinking to my hearts content, I looked at my reflection and was utterly shocked at what I saw. No wonder my vision was off center. I had a scar on my face that cut across my right eye. 4 white marks on my face, all parallel to each other, from the middle of my chin, going up and to the right across a little of my mouth, grazing my nose, 2 of the marks below my eye, 1 above it, and the last 1 going straight across my eye, leaving a gray blur where the pupil and iris used to be, and extending further to cut off a little bit of my hair. As I looked at my reflection, I took in my features so I could remember my own face. My hair was a bit off. It started off brown at the beginning of the strand, faded to orange more towards the middle, and faded even further to form red at the tips. My left eye was a perfect shade of hazel. I didn't have any sort of facial hair, or anything. I was cleaned up. Other than that, I was a normal guy around 19 years old, I think. I pulled down the scarf to find another scar on my throat. More white slash marks that were wavy and uneven. How that happened and I managed to survive, I may never know, but it would be best to leave it alone for now.

I stayed there and rested for what felt like hours on end, wondering when I would stop feeling weak. I was about to take a nap, until I heard a scream. It sounded like a kid. I stood up and looked around, hoping to find the source of that scream. I found a boy with somewhat long brown hair wearing shorts and some sort of jacket on the ground surrounded by a few monsters. They looked like they were ready to eat him. I was about to go and help him when 2 other guys seemingly showed up out of nowhere to do just that. 1 of them looked like he was from Colony 6 and was ready to fight, while the other guy had a large red sword on his back. I recognize that sword from somewhere. Wait. Is that the Monado? How do I even know any of that? Never mind, I'll think on it later.

The big guy from Colony 6 spoke up. "You all right, kid?"

The kid asked, "Who are you?"

"That can wait. Go! Get out of here! Leave these guys to use."

"OK!" After that, the kid got up and ran off in some random direction. I waited until he was a safe distance away before I looked back at the other 2.

The guy with the Monado looked over to his partner and said, "Let's do this!"

The big guy rolled his shoulder. "Ready when you are!"

The 2 of them versus these beasts? Even with the Monado, I thought they were insane to do something like this. Even so, they followed through with fighting those creatures and were doing a fairly good job in doing so. Out of those 3 monsters, only 1 remained, but as the 2 guys thought they were done, it struck them in the back. They were only knocked over, but now they were in a terrible position. That's enough sitting on the sidelines for me. I ran in there as fast as I could and gave that thing a taste of his own medicine. I realized how close I was to the guys. Although they didn't see my face just yet, and it needed to stay that way. In the state of shock the creature was in, I pulled the scarf over my face, covering my mouth and nose as a makeshift mask. It wasn't much, but it was good enough. The creature turned to face me and tried to attack me, but I jumped on its back and jammed my blade deep into its heart, ending it instantly. It dropped on its side, dead. How did I do that? I didn't even think about it, it just happened. Did I react on instinct? Have I done this before?

"Hey." That took me out of my thoughts as I looked over to see those 2 guys getting back up without a scratch on them. From the some of his voice, it sounded like the big guy. "Thanks for helping out there. Didn't even see that last one. Thought we were done there for a sec."

"Yeah." The guy with the Monado spoke, and as I looked at him, I was becoming more interested as to why he had it. "Can you tell us your name?" Again, taking me out of my thoughts, I answered him with a word I wasn't entirely sure was my name, but I feel it will suffice for now, until I can find my real name.

"Slash." That was all I said. They looked at me strangely, probably wondering where I learned to fight, or where I came from, or whatever, but even I couldn't answer those questions.

"Can you tell us more about yourself? I'd rather not stick around someone I don't really know well enough to put my trust in." Of course it was the big guy talking to me.

"Reyn!" And now the guy with the Monado speaks up.

"Come on, Shulk. I know you're just as curious as me."

"Yeah, but now's not the time. We've got to see if that boy is alright."

My turn to talk. "He's right. We should at least check up on him, provided he hasn't already run off somewhere."

We agreed on that, and I followed them to where the kid went. We found him by some sort of buggy that had smoke coming out of it. Not much, but still smoking nonetheless. Did he crash it or something?

The guy with the Monado, or Shulk, went to work fixing the buggy for the kid. He seems to be the smart one here while Reyn is just empty headed muscle. Of course, looks can be deceiving, so I shouldn't be so quick to judge.

"OK. It should work now." Shulk said as he just finished.

"Great. You saved my skin! My buggy short-circuited, and then there were those monsters, and… Well, thanks!"

The kid said to the guys as I stood off to the side, looking around, taking in my surroundings, invisible to them at the moment.

"I fixed the circuit, but it's out of ether. Change the cylinder and it'll be as good as new."

"I think it's time for the introductions." Reyn said out of nowhere. Didn't think someone like you could be somewhat of a gentleman, Reyn. "I'm Reyn. That's Shulk who just fixed your buggy for ya. That other guy over there is Slash."

"Pleased to meet you." Shulk said to the kid. I decided to stay silent. I assumed that with the scar on my neck, I wouldn't be able to talk that much, but I suppose it's better the complete silence overall.

"Oh...Hi! I'm Juju." What kind of name is that for a kid? It sounds like a nickname for him, but again, I shouldn't be judging. I'm obviously not normal either. "Where are you 3 headed? If you've got time, you should come back to our camp!"

"You're camp?" Shulk and I said at the same time.

"Yeah. It's not far."

"How about it?" Reyn asked Shulk. It seems like a good idea to me, but can we really trust this kid? I need to get to know someone before I can trust them. That goes for Shulk and Reyn as well. I have a feeling that they will stab me in the back if I'm not careful. Well, mostly Reyn. The Monado can't cut people. Another thing I feel I shouldn't know. Why did this have to happen to me? OK. No more questions for a while out of me. I've already asked too many to count.

"Let's take him up on the offer. I'm surprised there's a Homs camp here, but they might have some information." Smart thinking, Shulk. I expected that much out of you.

"I suppose."

"Juju, can you tell us how to get there?"

"Sure!" It seems this kid knows his way around here. "If you go back to the oasis, you should see a tall stone post. Head there first."

"Then what?" I asked. Gah! I thought I said no more questions for a while. I guess I couldn't help myself with that one.

"There's a small path in the woods next to the stone post. Just follow it down to our camp."

"Got it. Now, let's make a move." Reyn chimed in. We watched as Juju drove off in his buggy in the direction we were supposed to be headed. We decided to get moving and get some answers.

As we made our way towards the stone post, Reyn kept pestering me with questions about where I came from, who I am, where I got my sword. As much as he gives me a headache right now, I wish I could answer those questions myself. I don't remember anything about my past life, but strangely, I've recognized things like the Monado. This just continues to confuse and baffle me to no extent, but I am lucky I ran into these guys. Maybe they can help me out. I hope they can anyway.

We arrived at the stone post to find Juju waiting for us. He turned to see us walking over, then he looked away and started driving down the path. We followed him down the path and saw the camp he was currently living in. I felt a little bad for the kid. It didn't seem like they were used to living this way. I wonder what could have caused that to happen. I saw the look on Juju's face. He looked upset about something. I was about to ask him why this was, until I heard a woman's voice.

"Juju." This woman had long black hair that reached down to her shoulders, a blue top with a red vest around it, revealing her stomach. She had goggles around her neck, a pair of gloves about the same length as mine, red, and not a single hole. She also wore a pair of white short shorts, and some leggings. I can't really describe those at the moment. "Where have you been?"

At that moment, I saw Shulk's eyes glow for a moment, and then I saw something strange. It started off gray and blurry, but I got a more clear picture as it went on. I saw Juju being held in the air by something, and the girl running towards him, obviously in a panic. Next, I saw the girl falling to the ground, but a metal claw of some sort clamped down on her midsection, killing her. I could hear her screaming, and it sent a chill up my spine. Finally, I saw a huge robot with glowing red eyes, looking straight at me. Then, it all faded away, just as Shulk's eyes stopped glowing. He must have also seen this. He seemed just as unnerved as I was. Shulk explained to me after we met that the Monado shows him visions of the future as a warning. If that's true, then Juju and the girl were as good as dead.

"Don't tell me you were..." The girl continued. Juju stayed quiet. Was this his mother? No, wait. She's too young to be this boy's mother. Maybe his sister?

"I've told you a thousand times. We're not ready to leave the camp yet."

"But I thought..." Juju finally speaks up. I'm guessing he is a little scared of this girl. She seems to have some authority over him.

"Juju!" I flinched at that. I wasn't expecting her to yell that soon.

"Sorry Sharla." That was all he said at the moment. He knew he couldn't win this argument. I would hate to be in his position. Phew. She leaned down, put her right hand on the back of Juju's head, and leaned until their foreheads touched. They stay like that for a minute, not saying anything. She leaned back to look at him 1 more time, then looked over at us, or rather, at Reyn.

"That gear. You must be survivors from the Defense Force!" At that moment, she ran up to Reyn, put her hands on his chest, and looked up at him with a desperate look on her face. "Is Colony 6 OK? Did Gadolt make it?" What in the Bionis was she talking about?

"Hold on. What're you talking about?" At least I'm not the only 1 here thinking that. Thanks for that Reyn.

"We've come from Colony 9." Shulk said.

"Colony 9?" The girl, Sharla, asked. Apparently they don't get a lot of visitors, do they?

"They saved me from some monsters. This is Reyn, Shulk, and Slash." I thought Juju had been shut up in response to Sharla. I guess he found his voice after all.

"Oh, so you're not from Colony 6. Thank you for helping Juju. I'm his sister, Sharla." Looks like I was right. It was just a lucky guess though.

"I told them they could rest here with us."

"Did you now? Well, all right. I suppose that's only fair."

"Did something happen at Colony 6 that we should know of?" I decided to chime in. Everyone seemed a little surprised to hear me actually say something. I don't blame them.

"Actually, we're headed there ourselves." Shulk said to Sharla. As he said that, I couldn't help but wonder who this 'Gadolt' guy was. He seemed pretty important to Sharla for some reason. Otherwise, she wouldn't have blurted out his name.

"Colony 6 has been..." Sharla stopped there for a second, a bit uneasy. "Our home. It's been occupied be the Mechon." The look on everyone's faces. The Mechon? What was it about them that made everyone be like this? What did they do? I got my answer soon after, as I had a vision of my own once again. I saw what the Mechon did to both of the colonies, the lives they have taken, the destruction they caused. I also saw the reason Shulk and Reyn were even out here in the first place. Revenge for taking their friend away from them, but this girl seemed especially important to Shulk. He was angrier than the others at the mere mention of the Mechon. I saw his fist clench itself tight once the vision had faded. "I'll tell you about it inside. Follow me." Sharla finished. We did exactly as she said and followed her to where she wanted to go.

She took us to a nearby cave, which everyone was using for a roof over their heads. I continually felt bad for these people, because of the situation they were all put in, courtesy of the Mechon. I also found myself getting angry towards these machines, but not for these people. I was just angry at them. Maybe they were the reason I have these scars. I stopped before entering the cave, turned the other way, and thought to myself for a moment. I already know what happened to everyone here. I knew why they were here, and what they were feeling. I had no need to listen to the story. I already knew it. I looked back at Sharla and the others. They didn't notice I fell behind yet. Taking advantage of this, I ran back to the stone post, and decided to see if I could get to Colony 6 myself, without getting lost I hope. Sorry guys, but this is something I have to do.

3rd person POV

As the others went with Sharla to listen to her story, Juju looked back and noticed Slash had gone missing.

"Hey guys. Where's Slash?" Everyone looked back to see where he was. Slash was nowhere to be found.

"He abandoned us! Somehow I knew we couldn't trust him!" Reyn shouted, upset that Slash had willingly disappeared on them.

"Reyn, relax for a second and think." Shulk said at an attempt to calm him down. "He may have had somewhere to be, or something important to take care of. Whatever it is, it must be personal. We should let him be for now."

"Yeah. I guess you're right Shulk. Sorry about that."

"It's alright, Reyn. Now Sharla, can you tell us what happened with Colony 6?"

Sharla nodded, and began to tell them the story. "We had already fought off the Mechon a year ago, st the Battle of Sword Valley. It left us with a false sense of security. The Colony 6 Defense Force didn't even notice the approaching Mechon. By the time the air-raid siren sounded, a swarm of Mechon had blackened the sky. They ate people and burned our buildings. Me and Juju dedicated ourselves to evacuating the children and elderly." As Sharla explained their situation to Shulk and Reyn, she was forced to relive the horrible events that toke place at Colony 6 when the Mechon attacked, the memories had burned their way into her mind and were there to stay. "I don't know what happened next."

"It's just like what happened to Colony 9." Shulk said with remorse, as he was also forced to remember what happened at Colony 9, with it being the same for him and Reyn. Well, almost the same.

"They attacked your colony as well?" Sharla was surprised to hear this.

"Yes. It's good that you managed to evacuate so many."

"We have Otharon… the Colonel… to thank for that. Him and Gadolt."

"This Gadolt..." Reyn said, curious as to who this Gadolt was.

"He would have been my husband by now if not for all this." Sharla replied, looking down at the ground. "Cheer up, you 2!"

"Er..." Reyn said, utterly confused that Sharla was not more upset about something like this.

"We can't lose hope just yet. I'm certain Gadolt and the other soldiers are still alive. They're still fighting. I can feel it."

"Erm..." Juju chimed in.

"Hmm?" Shulk replied, curious as to what the boy had to say.

"You're on your way to Colony 6, right?" Juju asked Reyn and Shulk.

"You bet! We're up for some revenge. I bet we can even get your colony back!" Reyn said, obviously feeling very confidant about dealing with the Mechon.

"There you go showing off again..." Shulk said, a little annoyed about Reyn's behavior.

"If anyone can do it, it's you 2." Juju chimed in again. Everyone was beginning to wonder where this was going. "Could… um… Could you take me with you to the colony?!" This caught everyone off guard for a second.

"Juju!" Sharla shouted at him. "The people here need us! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"But you heard. The Mechon attacked Colony 9! That means a load of them have left Colony 6 already! It has to!" Sharla could hardly believe what she was hearing out of her little brother. Shulk and Reyn were just as surprised as she was, but also curious as to where this kid's courage came from. Sharla took a moment to think over what Juju had just said to her. After a brief moment, she had made her decision.

"Even if that's true… No, especially if it's true! We cannot expose the camp to any more danger." Sharla said.

"So, you don't care what happens to the people of the colony?! How can you be so heartless? Are you that scared of the Mechon?!" Juju shouted at his older sister, unaware of how foolish he was being instead of courageous. Again, everyone there was surprised to hear Juju talk like that to his own sister of all people. At the same time, Shulk's eyes began to glow once again. Although nobody noticed, he was having another vision. He saw Mechon tentacles in a rocky valley, engulfed in flames. Juju's lifeless body was being held in the air by 1 of them. In another tentacle, Sharla'a body has being held in the same way from meeting the same fate as Juju did. Finally, he saw a Mechon with a face amidst all the destruction, looking right at him with its glowing red eyes. The vision ended there, only for Shulk to see Reyn talking to Juju about something.

"Kid!" Reyn said to Juju.

"Reyn..." Juju said as a response.

"You oughta know how Sharla feels. Watch your mouth, and have some respect!" Reyn scolded Juju. At that moment, Juju could only stay silent on the matter, stuck thinking about what to say.

"I'll go and make dinner." Juju said, utterly defeated by Reyn. After saying that, Juju excused himself.

"Maybe I was too hard on you." Reyn said, feeling a little guilty for telling him off like that. Everyone there just stood still in silence for a while, thinking about everything that just happened in this little discussion. "Shulk?"

"Reyn, you really remind me of Gadolt when you get angry." Sharla said.

"I do?"

"Gadolt's taken care of us ever since we were young. I always saw him as a big brother really, but he was always more of a father to Juju… He'd call him 'kid' whenever he told him off, just like you did."

"I don't think I'm ready to be someone's old man just yet… Shulk? Did it happen again?" Reyn said, now concerned about what may happen sometime soon.

"Yeah." Shulk answered gravely.

"You had another vision?" Almost immediately after Reyn said that, they heard what sounded like an engine roar outside, and the sound faded away quickly.

"Oh no!" Shulk shouted out, aware of what was now happening.

"No! Juju!" Sharla now shouted. Worried about her little brother, she ran with Shulk and Reyn close behind her, only to find Juju's buggy has gone. "The buggy's gone! He's going to Colony 6 on his own!"

"Stupid kid!" Reyn yelled out angrily. "First Slash ditches us, now Juju. I feel like I'm standing with a bunch of crazy people here!"

"We have to hurry. Something bad's gonna happen." Shulk said, knowing where this was all going.

"What did you see?"

"A deep valley… Everything's engulfed in flames… There's a black shadow… It kills Juju."

"Is it the Mechon with the metal face?"

"Yeah."

"Where does it happen? Is it near Colony 6?"

"I'm not sure. I think so."

Let's get after him, Shulk!" Those 2 began to walk off, leaving Sharla confused about what just happened, until she spoke up.

"Hold on a second! What was all that about?" Shulk and Reyn did not stop. Sharla ran up to them to try and get their attention. She grabbed Reyn's shoulder, getting him to stop.

"I know you won't believe this…but Shulk can see the future." Reyn said.

"The future? That's not possible." Sharla said, not believing a single word like Reyn said.

"That's what I thought too. I still can't explain this. But that vision I had will come true unless we stop it." Shulk said.

"So you're telling me Juju's in danger?" Sharla asked, still trying to take in what they are saying to her.

"Believe it or don't believe it, that's your call. But I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for Shulk's visions." Reyn said, as he began to start walking again.

"Juju…" Sharla said. She let her head hang as she went into thought about everything Shulk and Reyn just told her. After a moment of thinking, she had made her decision. "OK. I can't say I believe you, but what have I got to lose?"

"I like the way you think!"

"Sharla, you're…" Shulk said, unsure of how to say she was meant to die there too.

"What?" Sharla looked over and asked.

"No. Nothing." Shulk decided not to say anything.

"What are you doing? Let's go and find Juju! If we're lucky, we might see Slash along the way." Reyn said to the both of them. Reyn started walking again, Sharla ran up just in front of him, and stopped to say something.

"When you talk like that, you sound just like Gadolt! That's how I know it's not worth arguing."

"What am I, some kind of Gadolt substitute?" Reyn and Sharla started walking yet again, as Shulk didn't even notice, lost in his thoughts.

" _That thing kills Sharla too. I saw it in the vision. But I can't stop her coming with us. I don't know how I can protect her. But I will do it. I WILL change the future."_ After he finished his train of thought, he caught up to Sharla and Reyn, hoping for the best deep down inside, and unsure if he can change the future this time.

Slash POV

It feels like hours since I left the camp. I feel bad for ditching the guys, but I doubt they would understand what I'm going through. I stayed along a dirt path, getting closer to an old bridge, fighting any Mechon that was on the path. Yet, I wasn't feeling tired at all. Later, I heard something coming my way. I hid in a nearby bush and waited for it to pass. I couldn't believe what I was. It was Juju's buggy, with Juju driving it. He was also headed for the bridge. I could feel his emotions as he passed by. I felt anger, bitterness, and some slight courage in the mix. After that, I knew where he was headed. Colony 6.

" _What is he thinking going off on his own?! At least I now know I'm on the right track. Focus, Slash! I need to follow him, and stop him before he gets himself killed. If that vision was real, and it comes true… Then I'm afraid it's goodbye to 2 innocent people. I can't let that happen."_

I followed the tire tracks he left in the dirt. When I got to the bridge, I was surprised and angry at what I found there. Juju's buggy had crashed, and it looks like he left it there to walk the rest of the way.

"Well, that's just great." I yelled out sarcastically.

" _Without the tire tracks from his buggy, I won't be able to track him down. I don't know where Colony 6 is, but he does. DAMN IT! If I can't find him, and soon, he will without a doubt be dead. Now what am I supposed to do? Wait a second. He only crashed a few minutes ago. The wreckage is fresh. OK. If I hurry, I might be able to catch up to him in time."_

I began to run after Juju, staying on the dirt path after going beyond the bridge. I just with I knew where I was going, or where I was at the moment. As soon as I got far enough down the path, I finally saw Juju. He was straying off the path to this valley. Why was he going there? He must have seen something.

" _Wait a second. Didn't the vision take place in a valley? Oh no. Juju is walking straight towards his death. Not while I'm around, you're not!"_

I ran after Juju, going as fast as I possibly could. Before I got there, I saw the metal tentacles from the vision shoot up out of the ground. It had begun.

"Juju!" I shouted. He turned around to see me. Thank the Bionis he heard me. "Get out of there, NOW!"

Juju started to run to me after that, but a tentacle was closing in on him. As soon as I was close enough, I drew my sword, got past Juju, and sliced it down the middle before cutting it off entirely.

"Slash!" Juju said, happy to see I was here.

"Consider yourself lucky I was around to help out, Juju. Now get back to the camp, and tell the others where I am. GO!" I said to him, shouting that last part. He nodded and began to run back to the camp. I hope he gets back alright. "If you want to hurt him, you'll have to kill me first!" I shouted at the Mechon. It sent its tentacles after me, swinging them at me, trying to impale me with them, but they also had flamethrowers built into them. I was forced to dodge what felt like flames from hell. This is what I get for going off on my own. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. The damage has been done. Now to survive this, or die trying. Please let luck be on my side today.

Shulk POV

As we were walking along the path with Sharla leading us, I couldn't stop thinking about my vision, and what I can do to change the future before it's too late. Seeing people die like that is terrible, but it's even worse to experience that, like I did with Fiora. I wish I could have done something to save her. I miss her, more than anything, but I can't lose focus right now. I need to save Juju, and protect Sharla from that metal-faced Mechon that took Fiora away from me.

I saw Raguel Bridge, I could also see something else nearby. It was a piece of a Mechon. Further along the way, there were more Mechon pieces. They were torn apart, sliced up, and utterly destroyed. Did Juju do this? No, I don't think so. So who was it them?

"Hey, Shulk." Reyn said to me. "You seeing this?"

"Yeah."

"Who could've done this? And where did these Mechon even come from?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're about to find out." I saw a figure running across the Raguel Bridge as I said that. Before we moved on, I moved closer to the Mechon part in front of me, and then, I saw another vision. This one was different, because it wasn't Juju against the Mechon. It was Slash, and he was fighting. So far, it looked like he was winning, but that victory was short-lived, as the metal-faced Mechon came, knocked him out, and kidnapped him after saying 'You're that brat that managed to escape us. Well, not this time.' And with that, my vision ended. The future had changed, but not because of me.

" _Why did I see Slash in this vision? Did he have something to do with it? And where was Juju? Is he already dead? I have to hurry, before this new vision come true, or else we may lose everyone here."_

Once we got to Raguel Bridge, I could finally see who that figure was. It was Juju.

"Juju!" Sharla shouted. He ran up to Sharla, who hit him across the face with her right hand. After Juju recovered, he looked back up at Sharla, who was now hugging him. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"I'm so sorry, Sharla, everyone." Juju said, not making eye contact. He felt bad for running off the way he did, and I understand why. "But you need to go!" This surprised me. Wait, not just me, but all of us.

"Why?" I asked him, hoping my vision wasn't coming true.

"It's Slash. He's the only reason I got away. He's off fighting a Mechon, and I think he needs help!" I couldn't believe it. My vision was coming true.

"No. But that could only mean that..."

"What is it, Shulk?" Reyn asked me, getting worried.

"It's Slash! If we don't do something, that faced Mechon will..." I couldn't say.

"Will what, Shulk?" Sharla asked.

I said nothing. I won't let this happened. The future had changed, but not for the better. Slash just took Juju's place. Why? What is he trying to do?

"Shulk!" Juju shouted at me, taking me out of my thoughts. "Slash needs our help, and you're just going to stand there? Aren't you gonna help him like you helped me?!" Again, Juju surprises me with his words.

"Yeah. You're right. Let's go!" I said. We ran across the bridge and got back on the path. "Alright Juju, where did you go from here?" I asked him. We needed to find Slash as soon as we possibly could.

"Just stay along the path, and you'll see him to the left, fighting in the valley on a large rock formation. You can't miss it."

"Thank you, Juju. Can you show us the way from there?"

"Sure! It's not far, but we need to hurry."

"OK." We walked along the path, and often noticed more Mechon parts scattered all over. Slash did all this on his own?

" _That faced Mechon recognized him. 'You're that brat that managed to escape us.' Who was that, and what was he talking about? Slash, who are you? What are you? Why are you even here? And why won't you say anything?"_

"Over there!" Juju shouted, taking me out of my thoughts again. I saw the rock formation. It seemed to be a large natural platform with another one above it, all held up by naturally formed pillars. The Mechon and Slash were there. The way Slash was fighting, it seemed he knew everything it was going to do before it did anything. It's like me and my visions. How is this possible?

"Slash!" Reyn shouted out at him.

"Huh? Guys?! What are you doing he-" He didn't get to finish, as the Mechon took advantage of the distraction. Another tentacle shot out from the ground next to him, knocking him off of his feet. Then, it grabbed his left leg, and began to shake him and swing him around like a doll. He was shouting out in pain. I could see blood dripping from his leg.

"LET ME GO!" He screamed, before he used his sword and cut the tentacle off completely. He landed on the ground hard, and the sword slipped out of his hand, landing near the edge. He tried to stand up, but he dropped back down, because of what the Mechon did to his leg. Sharla ran over to help him.

"Wait! Sharla!" I yelled, experiencing another vision. I saw another tentacle shoot out of the ground, throw Sharla in the air, and crush her. As soon as the vision ended, the Monado began to act again, as it did in the cave. "Another new symbol's appeared on the Monado! Can I save her?"

" _Of course you can."_ Not thinking about the voice I heard, I ran and slammed the Monado into the ground. The energy enveloped around Sharla, and the tentacle missed entirely. Taking my chance, I cut it off.

"Shulk?!" Sharla said, surprised at what I just did.

"Its tentacles could come out from under the ground at any second. One false move and you're done for. Wait for my order! Reyn, you got my back?" I said.

"'Course! Leave it to me!" Reyn said, confident we were going to win.

I ran at 2 more tentacles sticking out of the ground. I had another vision. A 3rd was going to try and surprise me, while the other 2 would attack while my guard was down. Knowing what would happen, I took advantage and slowed down, so when the tentacle appeared in front of me, I cut it down. The other 2 began to move, as I cut off another, while the last one went up and shot its flames, attempting to burn me, only to miss. Finally, it came off too. I regrouped with Reyn and Sharla.

"Amazing! I didn't know you could do that!" Sharla said.

"It's not me. It's the power of the Monado."

"That's right. And that light swirling around us… That's the Monado 'n' all. Sharla! Let's move!" Reyn said.

We now faced the Mechon standing before us. It wasn't the faced one, but it still hurt Slash and tried to kill us. This Mechon will be destroyed for what it has done here today.

 **(OK. That was chapter 1 for you all. Please review. If you have notes, send them to me, so I can make chapter 2 even better. But fair warning, it may take awhile. Again, I'm making it up as I go along here so… Yeah. 'Till next time.)**


	2. Chapter 2

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(I'm back, everyone. Forgot to say this the first chapter; All rights belong to Nintendo. I do NOT own Xenoblade Chronicles (other than a copy of the game). I would have had this updated sooner, but I have to go to my job. It's a lot of long, hard work. OK. Enough rambling. Here's chapter 2.)**

Chapter 2

Slash POV

Shulk and the others came to help. They actually came. I was happy for that, but also mad, no, furious for them bringing Juju back into this. Why would they do that? Damn it, Juju. You were supposed to go back to the camp. Why didn't you listen?! Now, my left leg is bleeding, possibly broken, my sword landed who knows where, and everyone here is now in great danger. I can understand Sharla being with them to find Juju, but I thought she might have gone back to the camp with him, not come back here.

I could only sit and watch with Juju next to me, making sure nothing else happened while I was down. That Mechon is nearly impossible to predict, considering what it is capable of with its tentacles shooting out of the ground. They continue to do so, while everyone was dodging and cutting them off, but they just kept coming. Why does it have so many tentacles? That didn't seem to matter around Shulk. He saw them coming, and sliced them as if they were nothing at all. Sharla was running all over, giving the Mechon a taste of her ether rifle, while Reyn helped out wherever needed. I wish I could do something, but now I can't. I'm stuck watching the show, and although it's a good show, it is just plain terrible I can't help out. I feel like I need to do something, but I can't even stand up now. I hate this.

Shulk POV

I had to keep moving. The Mechon was on aggressive, trying to get us in whatever way possible. Even with my visions of the future, I knew I couldn't outlast it. We had to end this, and soon.

"Reyn, on your left!" I shouted out.

Just as I said that, Reyn moved to the right and another tentacle shot out of the ground, only to be cut off yet again.

"Thanks, Shulk!" Reyn said.

"Sharla, focus on the body! We need to end this!"

"OK!" Sharla said. She started shooting at the body of the Mechon, and the bullets were doing damage, but not enough. At this rate, it would take hours before this Mechon would be destroyed. I had to change tactics. I decided to go for the body. As soon as I got close enough, I stabbed it in the center. The Monado ran right through it, but it wasn't done yet. I saw another vision, and got away from the body before the last 4 tentacles retracted back to the Mechon and try to attack me. Now these 4 tentacles were all it had left, but that didn't make it much less dangerous.

"Reyn, behind you!" I shouted to him.

"Whoa!" He said, narrowly dodging one of the 4 tentacles. Unfortunately, we couldn't cut it off in time. It retracted back to the body, and strangely enough, the Mechon stopped moving altogether.

"Is it down?!" Reyn asked. His question was soon answered as the Mechon used its remaining tentacles to climb to the platform above. "Get back here!"

"It's up there! Let's go after it!" I said. Before we ran up there, I took one last look at Slash. He seemed upset. Depressed almost. Why was that? We were winning. Was it because of his injury, or something else? Putting that off to the side, I caught up to the others and got back into the fight. The Mechon also changed its tactics. It was swinging its tentacles all over the place, trying to knock up down. This was hard to work around. This Mechon has a lot of reach. I dodged those swings about 20 times, before I was caught off guard by its built-in flamethrowers. I dodged those, but not successfully. I had a small burn on my right shoulder. It hurt, but I kept fighting nonetheless. Sharla, noticing this, shot her ether rifle at me. It hit me, but it didn't hurt much. It stung a little, but when I looked at my shoulder, it was perfectly fine.

"Thanks, Sharla." I said to her.

"Anytime." She said back to me.

The fight continued on like this for a while, neither side making any progress. I decided to go for it, and make it quick. I charged up the Monado for one final blow.

"Monado Buster!" I shouted out, as the energy in the blade grew to 3 times its length, and I sent it down on the Mechon, slicing its body in 2. It was finally over.

"All right! We did it!" Reyn said. "Hey! Looks like we changed the future!" He looked over at me to see that I was thinking. "What's up?"

"Well, it's just that..." I started, unsure off why the faced Mechon had not shown up. "That can't have been the Mechon from my vision."

"That's right." I looked behind me, seeing Slash leaning on Juju as he was making his way to me. "The Mechon you saw was supposed to be one with a face, right?"

"I guess we changed more than we expected!" Reyn said, unaware of what was to come. "Shulk?"

"No. Something's not right." After I said that, another Mechon showed up above us, bigger than the one we just fought. It was in flight mode, but it turned to face Slash and Juju before it switched to combat mode. "No! It's not him at all!"

"But this one's got a face 'n' all!" After Reyn said that, the Mechon looked over at me for a moment.

"I've been waiting for you, Monado boy." The Mechon said. I couldn't believe it. Since when are Mechon able to speak?

"What? It spoke!" I said. It got close and almost stepped on me. It leaned forward, getting a better look at me, and it spoke again.

"The way Metal Face scarpered, I thought you'd have to be this big scary monster. But look. You're just some pathetic little kid!" At that moment, it raised the hammer in its right hand, and got ready to fight. It started swinging its hammer all over the place trying to hit me. But it was only going after me. This isn't good. It may not be that fast, but he is powerful. I've got to be careful. One of his swings almost hit Juju and Slash. As soon as he looked over to his right, he saw them. "Hang on. I recognize you. You're that kid who managed to escape us! Don't think I don't know. I'd know that scar anywhere. Let's see you try and get away this time!"

"Slash!" I shouted. I tried to get in between him and Slash, but I was too late. The Mechon shoved Juju aside, and grabbed Slash. He screamed in pain from having his injury. "Hang on!"

"You pile of junk!" Reyn yelled at it. We ran at it, trying to beat him and free Slash. "Let him go!"

"Reyn! Better watch your back!" I told him.

"Got it!" Reyn turned around and attacked 2 smaller Mechon that tried to ambush us, destroying them. "Cheers, Shulk!" Now I was rushing the faced Mechon alone.

"You little..." The Mechon said, before it swung its hammer at me again. I kept dodging. I managed to slip in and attack his foot, but the Monado only bounced off him. He roared and tried to step on me. I back-stepped each time. Then he tried to crush me with his hammer, only to miss again.

"Why… Why can't I use the Monado?!" I asked, thinking out loud while running around him. "It's only the ones that have faces. But…" As I said that, he took another swing at me. I ducked and kept on moving. "I can still see what it's going to do! Just like before!" I kept on running.

"Nice tricks you got there, pipsqueak! Darting around the place!" The Mechon said as he tried to crush me again. "That the Monado's power? Won't matter, you're still flesh and blood, and I reckon you're nearly done!" After he said that, Reyn got behind me, and shoved away another smaller Mechon. "Behind you!"

"Shulk! Leave these to me! Go take him out!" Reyn said.

"Got it!" I said as I started running towards the faced Mechon. He threw his left fist at me, the one that he held Slash in. I couldn't get out of the way in time. He hit me hard, and I dropped to one knee. He laughed and raised his hammer to finish me off. As it came down, I heard a gunshot, and the hammer went to my left, missing me. I looked over to see Sharla had saved me.

"Now!" She shouted.

"Right!" Reyn said. He attacked the Mechon's left hand trying to free Slash, but his weapon only bounced off. "It's just bouncing off 'im!"

"That was fun for a while." The Mechon said. He jumped up into the air with his hammer ready. "But now I'm bored!" Right when he said that, he came down and slammed his hammer on the ground, sending us all reeling from the shock of the blow. Reyn and I managed to stay on our feet, but Sharla ended up hanging off a cliff.

"Sharla!" Juju shouted, as he rushed over to help her. The Mechon put his foot in between me and Reyn, keeping us separated.

"Time to finish you off!" The Mechon shouted, raising his hammer again.

"Shulk! Look out!" I heard Reyn shout. I heard some strange humming sound after he said that. I saw something about the Mechon had changed. Was it out of energy?

"Looks like my time here's up. It's your lucky day, little boy!" The Mechon said while backing away. "But that luck won't last forever." After he said that I heard Slash shout.

"NOW!" He said. I looked over to Reyn, and saw he was throwing Slash's sword at the Mechon. It hit in the Mechon's left arm, right next to Slash. He slipped his right arm out, grabbed his sword, and started chopping at the Mechon's arm.

"Hey! Quit that!" The Mechon said. Before it could do anything, Slash took one more swing, and the Mechon's hand opened up, releasing him. Slash dropped and landed on the ground hard. "Stubborn, aren't you? No matter. I'll just take this one instead!" Now the Mechon grabbed Juju. "I'll keep hold of this brat. If you want him back you'd better come to Colony 6. But you'll have to be quick. I'm feeling hungry!"

"You! You're gonna pay!" The Mechon only laughed and began to take flight.

"I can't wait to grind you all into dust!"

"Sharla! Sharla! No!" Juju shouted while trying to reach out to us. The Mechon switched back into flight mode, and rushed off to Colony 6.

"Juju..." That was all Sharla said before she lost consciousness. I looked over at Slash, and found him with his head down, and his fists clenched in anger. This is not good.

Slash POV

" _Damn it all! I couldn't protect Juju! I should have been able to do something! I should have kept him safe! I failed! This is my fault! I FAILED!"_

I continued on in my mind, cursing myself for not getting the job done. I feel like I should have let him take me, but I just didn't let that happen. Now Juju has been captured, and it's all my fault.

"Hey!" I heard Reyn say. I looked up to see him standing above me. "Are you crazy running off on your own to fight like that?! And what makes you think you can just ditch us like that?! Have you got something to prove?! Is that it?! Well, congrats! Juju is now in the hands of the Mechon!" Reyn lectured on, only making me feel worse.

"That's enough, Reyn!" Now it was Shulk.

"Shulk!"

"He's been through enough as it is! Look at his leg! Do you really think he needs to hear this right now? We need to get back to the camp, rest up, and go save Juju!" I couldn't believe it. Shulk was defending me, even after the mistakes I made.

"Whatever man. But don't think I'm done with you yet, Slash!" He shouted at me one last time before walking away to grab Sharla, who had passed out on the ground. Shulk walked up to me and looked at me worriedly.

"Are you alright?" That was all I heard him say. My sight began to blur and darken. I knew what that meant. I tried to stay awake, but I blacked out. I felt cold, lightheaded, and weak. I lost too much blood already, and I was still losing more. As I was unconscious, I remember my dreams this time. I see myself inside some sort of tank being tortured. I saw 2 people looking at me, but I couldn't see them all that well. I could only see their shadows. They were watching me from behind a desk, taking notes. What were they doing to me? That was all I saw, before I woke up.

My eyes shot open. I looked down to see my leg. It was bandaged up. It still hurt, but now it was more of a dull pain. I tried to stand up, but I dropped back down on the blanket I was on. I noticed Sharla was asleep right next to me on her own blanket. I couldn't help but wonder what she was dreaming about. I leaned closer to her, and put hand left hand to her forehead. At that moment, I saw something. I saw her memories. The memory of when she left the colony, when she last saw Gadolt, and what they promised each other. There was another guy named Otharon there, but I don't know who he is right now, so I'll leave that alone. I also saw the faced Mechon taking Juju away. That was something I didn't need to relive. At that moment, I took my hand away and waited for her to wake up.

"Juju!" She screamed. She woke up with a start. Startled me for a second. "Where are you?" She asked herself. She was afraid, and I can understand why. She might lose, or have already lost her little brother, the only piece of family she has left at this point.

"You're awake." I said. She looked at me with a gasp. Looks like it was her turn to be startled. "Are you doing alright, or are you still shaken from that nightmare of yours?" This surprised her. She was not ready for that.

"How did you-" I cut her off.

"I saw it all. I saw those memories, Sharla. I'm sorry I couldn't protect Juju for you. I wish I could have done more." That was all I said. I looked away in shame. I was expecting her to smack me across the face after saying that, but nothing happened.

"It's alright." WHAT?! "You did your best. How is your leg?"

"Bad. I still can't stand up, and no! It's not alright! My best wasn't enough to protect him, or even myself. It's my fault this happened the way it did." Sharla stayed silent for a moment after that. Neither of us said anything or moved, until Sharla finally stood up. Here it comes. I braced for it, expecting her to hurt me in some way, but she never did. Instead, she put her hand on my left shoulder and just talked to me.

"It's OK. The fact that you would go to such lengths shows me how much you want to help us. That's good enough for me. Don't worry about it. We'll get Juju back, and the people of Colony 6 as well." She was telling the truth. She hadn't lost hope or anything. She believed that we would get Juju back. I finally looked her in the eye.

"Thank you." That was it. No more words were needed at the moment.

"Don't move. I think I can help you out this time." What was she talking about? I saw her get her rifle. Oh shit. Was she going to shoot me? She loaded her bullet and pointed the barrel at me. Yeah, she's going to shoot me. She then pointed the barrel up in the air and fired. The bullet blew up and the blue gas dispersed all over the area. What was she doing? As the gas came down to me, I started to feel stronger. My leg was feeling a little better. She was healing me. As soon as the gas was gone, I felt much better. My leg still hurt, but not as much as before. "OK. Try to stand up this time." I did as she said and stood up. I actually stood up. I tried to walk over to her, but I couldn't. I could only limp. Better than nothing.

"Wow! Thanks you, Sharla!" I said, excited I could stand again.

"You're welcome." She said back to me. "Come on. The guys are waiting for us."

"OK." We started walking, well, she walked while I limped. I reached back to see if my sword was in my scabbard. Thank the Bionis it was. I thought I lost it in that battle for a second. Phew.

We kept moving, and found Shulk and Reyn talking about something, but I decided not to snoop. I had already done enough of that for one day. As soon as they saw us, Shulk was happy and relived, but Reyn looked at me with anger and silent rage. I have a feeling this is not going to go well. As soon as I got close, Reyn punched me in the stomach, hard.

"Oof!" That was all that came out as I bent over and clenched where he hit me.

"Reyn!" Shulk shouted at him. "Why did you do that?"

"That's for running off on your own!" Reyn yelled at me. After that, he grabbed my shoulder and gave me a right uppercut to the face, hitting me square in the scar. "And that's for trying to play the hero!" As he yelled at me, the second blow sent me off my feet. I landed on my back, and the rock I landed on only made the pain all the worse. At least it was my back it hit instead of my leg.

I put my hand up to my face, feeling all that pain. I did call him empty-headed muscle. But that was not the brunt of his blow. The real pain resided in what he said to me. I could only feel horrible about this. I did abandon them, and I failed at trying to save Juju. I knew this to be true, but to be reminded of that was the last thing I wanted.

" _I deserve this. It's all my fault. How could I be so stupid?"_ That was the only thing running through my head now, repeating itself again and again. I wanted it to stop, but it never did. I really believed that it was true, until someone spoke up for me.

"Reyn! Are you really that foolish? Do you think he wanted any of this to happen? No! He tried his best to prevent all of this, but we got in the way and look what happened? This isn't really all his fault. If anything, it's ours." That was Sharla. She stood up for me, but what Reyn said had already worked its way into my head. It wasn't leaving anytime soon. I looked up to see the look on Reyn's face. It was filled with guilt. He now knew he overstepped his boundaries with this one.

"Thank you." I said to Sharla. She looked down at me and nodded with a smile on her face.

"I guess I was a little harsh. Sorry, Slash. But can you at least tell us when your leaving next time?" Reyn said to me.

"Well, this is surprising. I didn't know Reyn was my big brother." I joked. Everyone got a chuckle out of that, with the exception of Reyn.

"What?!" Right when Reyn said that, I burst out laughing. It felt to good to laugh, but it was short lived as I started to cough after a minute. It sounded like something was stuck inside my throat. Was I getting sick? "Hey. You alright?" Sharla put hand hand on my forehead. She frowned. I knew what that meant. I was getting sick, if I wasn't already.

"He's not alright. He's getting sick. His wounds may have been infected during the battle. Looks like he will stay here and rest until he's better." Well, medic Sharla knows best when it comes to matters like this. "I'll take him back inside, set him down so he can rest, and make sure he has everything he needs before we go."

"OK. I understand. I don't want to be slowing you down." That was all I said before Sharla helped me up and back inside. She set me back down on the blanket I woke up on, and got me an ice-cold glass of water. She grabbed her ether rifle, and headed out to join the others. They were going to go and rescue Juju. I knew that much. I wanted to help, but I was sick, weak, and temporarily crippled. Looks like I'm stuck here for I while.

Shulk POV

While Reyn and I waited for Sharla, I couldn't help but think about Slash. He didn't tell us anything about himself or his past. This wouldn't leave me alone for even a moment.

" _Did he do something in his past that he doesn't want to say? Did something happen to change him? Where did he get that scar? Why won't he say anything? Where did he learn to fight like that? And why did that Mechon recognize him? Slash, who are you?"_

I saw Sharla walking up to us again. I decided to think on it later and focus on the matter at hand. We had to rescue Juju as soon as possible. We couldn't stop until he was safe again.

"Hey there. Are you all right?" I asked her.

"How's Slash doing?" Reyn asked. Sharla looked back at Slash's place of rest, not saying anything. She turned back to us a minute later, but still didn't say anything. She just stared at us for a moment.

"How long have we been out?" She asked.

"Huh?" Reyn said.

"How long have we been unconscious?" She asked again, thanks to Reyn.

"4 hours, I'd say." I told her.

"I've got to get out of here!" After she said that, she started to run. I knew she wanted to rescue Juju, but I also knew she couldn't do it alone. Reyn and I ran after her. We caught up to her and stopped her before she could get too far.

"Hold up!" Reyn said.

"Mind if we go with you?" I asked, hoping she would want us along.

"You're going to bust into their base, right? We want a piece of them too."

"Really…?" That was all she said. She stared at us with disbelief.

"Truth be told, we were gonna leave without you. But the thing is…I get roughed up a lot and we don't know anyone else who can use ether." Reyn said to her. Sharla looked over at me. I gave her a quick nod to show her he was telling the truth.

"I… Thank you both." She turned her back to us after that, and her head dropped down a little. She started walking again after a moment to herself, none of us saying anything. We followed her out of the camp, while Slash had to stay behind. After what felt like an hour of walking, she stopped. "It's been a while… And it's just… I never imagined I would go back to Colony 6 like this." She put her hand up to her head as she said that. Reyn and I looked away for a moment. "I'm sorry. Lost myself for a minute. We can get to Colony 6 from the valley where Juju was taken. It's this way." I looked back up at her, and saw she started walking again. I followed her with Reyn at my side.

We walked through for hours without stopping for a rest. We reached Colony 6 after a while, and I saw it.

"This is Colony 6?" I asked.

"It's like a fortress. Did people really live here?" Reyn asked as well.

"So much has changed… It's only been a month." Sharla said.

"We'll find Juju and then smash some metal!" There goes Reyn showing off yet again.

"Wait! We can't just rush in." I told him.

"We could enter through the mine." Sharla said.

"Mine?" Now I'm curious about this.

"There's a massive ether deposit under the colony. The first settlers here built right on top of the mine. That's how we got our colony. The mine is like a network of tunnels. It's much more complicated than the colony streets. They can't have figured it all out in the space of a month." That's a good idea, Sharla.

"So..." Reyn said, a little lost.

"She means it's the best route if we want to remain unseen." I had to tell him.

"You're catching on." It was your idea, Sharla.

"Great! So how do we get in?" Reyn asked.

"Through the Drainage Outlet. It's just up ahead." After Sharla said that, she began walking again. We followed close behind her. We kept on walking until we saw a lift. We took the lift down without saying anything. Once the lift reached the bottom, we stepped out and followed Sharla, since she knew her way around here.

As we walked over to the Drainage Outlet, we encountered a lot of wildlife that were not particularly happy we were there. We had to fight a lot before we could get to our destination. Because of all the fighting we had to go through, it took us an hour longer than it should have. What made it especially dangerous was the path we were on. To be more specific, the Splintered Path. One false move, and we were done. Luckily, it never came to that. We made it to the Drainage Outlet in one piece, but I couldn't shake this feeling that we were being followed for some reason. I looked back there several times, but there was no one there. If there is someone following us, then who could it be?

When we got inside however, I didn't expect this next part.

"Guys! Kill the noise." Sharla said. I did as she said and looked over to where she was looking. There was a Mechon there. I couldn't believe it. There were Mechon down here?

"A Mechon." I said.

"I can't believe they've taken the mine too! That means the Defense Force and the residents are..." She stopped there for a second. What was she thinking about now? "Oh no, Juju!"

"Keep it together, Sharla! Don't start panicking now." Reyn said to her.

"Reyn..." She said back.

"You said yourself, they can't have seized the entire area, right? I bet you they're holed up someplace safe. Juju is alive, and we're gonna find him." Reyn was trying to reassure her, and it was working.

"That's why we're here. You can count on us." I said, attempting to help Reyn make her feel better about this.

"Yes, it'll be fine. Reyn… Shulk… Thank you." That was all she said. Now once again, Reyn and I are following her throughout the mine, working our way around the Mechon in here, or destroying them. As we continued our way through the mine stealthily, out of nowhere, we heard a shot. "An Ether Rifle?" Sharla asked. Who else was down here? "Gadolt!" She suddenly shouted out and ran towards it.

"Sharla, wait!" We chased after her. When we caught up to her, we found Mechon surrounding a man taking cover behind some crates left down there.

"Gadolt!" Sharla shouted, and began shooting at them. She hit a few of them, but didn't really do any sort of damage. All she did was knock them over or away from the man.

"Medic, is that you?!" He shouted out to us. Was that Gadolt?

"Otharon!" She said. She ran over to his side to try and help him, while shooting at every Mechon in sight.

"That's our cue, Reyn." I said while running over to Sharla.

"Oh yeah!" He said, following me after her. I got in front of her and activated the Monado. Reyn ran up next to me, with Sharla behind him and Otharon behind me. I looked around and counted around 40 Mechon. Maybe even more than that. We were severely outnumbered here, but we had to do something. The fighting began, and I charged at the Mechon. I sliced at them as if there was no tomorrow. Reyn had my back, while Sharla and Otharon gave us support, but the Mechon just kept coming. Soon we were surrounded, and there was no way out. Even with the Monado, I couldn't keep up with this many Mechon. Back at Colony 9, Reyn, Dunban, and I fought off a lot of Mechon, but they only came in small groups of 3 to 5. Next thing I knew, the Mechon in front of me got a sword thrown into it. I know that sword. I looked over to where we came in. Slash was standing there. He used his right leg, and jumped over to us, landed on the Mechon, grabbed his sword, and yanked it out. The Mechon dropped after that, and Slash came up next to me.

"You guys OK?" He asked us.

"Slash?! What are you doing here? You should be back at the camp resting!" I told him. He gave me a chuckle.

"It takes more than a few bandages or a cough or 2 to keep me down. Now can we make this quick?" I smiled at him, thankful he was here fighting with us instead of on his own.

"Sure." We got back into the fight. Slash was slower with his injury, but he was still a strong fighter. Whatever he couldn't dodge, he defected. The way he fought began to show again. He saw them coming and anticipated them. Once again, it was similar to my visions. He knew what they were going to do. How is this possible? As the Mechon kept dropping, Slash was slowly speeding up. It showed he was healing rather well, but there was still a little bit of a limp in his step. After an hour or 2 of fighting, the last Mechon went down at Slash's hand. We were all tired from that.

"That's twice you helped us, Slash. Thank you." I told him.

"Don't thank me. I only came, because I wanted to help, and also to fix the mistake I made by rescuing Juju with you guys." Slash said to me. He was still blaming himself for this, but he was willing to help regardless of his situation. I'm sure I would be doing the same thing if I were in his place.

"Slash!" Uh oh. Reyn doesn't sound happy about this. He stopped in front of us and stared at Slash for a moment. He then pulled Slash into a headlock like he does with me. "Good to see you're back on your feet, man."

"Believe me, it's good to be walking again. I hated not being able to do that much. It was horrible." Slash told him. I'm a little surprised Reyn still wasn't upset with him. He might have been, but I don't really know right now. I looked over at Sharla, and I saw her running over to Otharon. I ran after her. When we got there, Otharon started to talk.

"Medic. Why are you here?" He said.

"Sir, Isn't Gadolt with you?" Sharla asked him. Otharon took a few steps away from us, let his head hang down for a second and sighed, his backed turned to us all the while.

"We have much to discuss." He then turned to face us. "You'd better come with me."

"Sir." Sharla said. Otharon then turned around and started walking. We all started to follow him. I looked over at Slash to see how he was doing. He wasn't limping at all right now. He was walking. I guess Sharla did a good job before we left. I fell behind a little to talk to him.

"Hey." I started.

"Hey, Shulk." He said back to me.

"You doing all right?"

"I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me. Like I said, it'll take a lot more than this to keep me down for too long." We stayed silent for a minute. I decided to speak up. I needed some of my questions answered.

"Slash."

"Yeah, Shulk?"

"I've been meaning to ask you some questions for a while now."

"OK, but I won't be able to answer them though." This confused me.

"Why?" He stopped for a second. I stayed with him. He looked over at the others, and then back to me.

"Can you keep a secret?" He asked me.

"What?"

"Can you keep a secret for me, Shulk? What I'm about to tell you is personal. Please?" He told me. I thought about it for a moment.

"OK. I won't say a word." I told him.

"Good." He looked away for a second. "The reason I can't answer your questions, Shulk, is because I can't remember anything about my past life."

"What?!" I shouted.

"Shh! Keep your voice down." He whispered to me. "Look, I don't remember anything. I don't remember my home, my parents, or even if I had any parents. If I had any friends before you guys, I don't remember them either. But the part that shocks me most is that I don't remember how I got my scars." Scars? He has more than one?

"Oh. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be. None of it is your fault. I know that much. You're too nice a guy to even think about something like what happened to me. Besides, I've seen your memories."

"What?!" I said just above a whisper. "How?!"

"I can't really explain it. It's all so knew to me, but if I focus on a single person or group, I know what they're thinking. I can see into their minds. It's so weird, seeing things through other people's eyes like that, but it allows me to better understand them, you included. Nothing gets by me that easily, but I'm still new to this, so I can't do that much with it." He walked past me, getting in front of me. "I can see why you love Fiora so much. I'm sorry that happened to you." That surprised me. He wasn't even there at the colony. I could feel my face heat up a little after that.

"I-I-I don't-" He didn't let me finish.

"Yes you do, Shulk. It's nothing to be ashamed of. True, it may be a little embarrassing, but I swear I won't tell anyone, but if anything, you should. It'll take a huge weight off your shoulders if you admit it not just to them, but to yourself. Don't deny it." We didn't say another word for a while as we caught up to the others. As I thought more on it, I realized he was right.

"Thank you, Slash." That was all I could say then.

"Don't mention it. Now let's hurry it up, or else we'll fall behind."

"OK." We started running after the others. We did not need to fall behind. I did have the Monado after all. And Slash's sword could also cut through Mechon. We were going to be needed. When we finally caught up, we stopped in a small room. All it had was a bed and a few supplies that were still in crates.

"Hey guys." Reyn said to us. "Where ya been?"

"We were always close by. We were just in the back talking to each other. That's all." Slash answered for me.

"OK. Just don't fall behind again. We don't want to lose you guys."

"Wow, Reyn. You really do seem like a big brother to us right now. You know that?" Slash joked.

"Whoa! I ain't ready to be someone's old man just yet! Stop bringing that up!" Reyn said, getting a little red in the face. Slash and I just laughed it off. Reyn joined us a second later.

"You're too easy sometimes, Reyn. That's what makes it funny for me." Slash continued on.

"Yeah, I guess. But that doesn't mean you want to mess with me."

"True. OK. Let's see what Otharon has to say."

"Good call." It's good to see Reyn and Slash getting along, especially after what happened earlier. Reyn walked over to join the others, but Slash stayed still for a second.

"Hey, Slash. Do you think you'll ever tell them what you told me?" I asked him.

"In due time, Shulk. You were the only one who would understand it at the moment, but I will tell the others. Maybe after we rescue Juju, and destroy the faced Mechon. But for now, I think it would be best if we just leave it the way it is." Slash explained to me.

"OK. I understand."

"Thanks." We walked over to the others, and waited for Otharon to speak up. Sharla had explained everything that has happened to Otharon, and why we are here now.

"So, Juju has been taken by the bronze-faced one." Otharon finally said.

"Sir, what about Gadolt?" Sharla asked.

"Gadolt is gone."

"Gone?! What do you mean gone?" Otharon let his head hang again as he explained.

"Gadolt and I planned a surprise attack to set everyone free. But we failed miserably. When I woke, Gadolt was nowhere to be seen. Only his rifle remained. But he is alive. I can feel it. We may not be joined by blood, but he's like a son to me. I'd know if he were dead." Sharla looked away. She wasn't really able to handle what she had just been told.

"Some of the people in Colony 9 got eaten…" Reyn said.

"Reyn!" I said to him. I was surprised he said that with Sharla standing right in front of him.

"Sorry. Forget I said that."

"They don't kill Homs right away." Otharon continued. "If that bronze-faced one took him, we still have some time left."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. He looked over at me.

"Boy, that blade was once Dunban's. I'm not sure why you have it, but we're going to need it's full power." Otharon told me.

"You can count on me." He gave me a quick nod, and then looked over to the others.

"We're heading for the Central Pit. It's where they take all the Homs they kidnap. If Juju's alive, that's where he'll be. Gather your things. We're moving out." Otharon started walking again. Now we know where to go to find Juju and the bronze-faced Mechon. Just then, I had another vision. I saw Otharon standing on top of something with a rifle in his hands. I heard him shout. 'Juju! Gadolt! This is for you.' Then, I saw him falling into what looks like an entire river of pure ether. The vision ended.

"Huh? What?" I said, looking over at Otharon. Reyn looked at me.

"You say something, Shulk?" He asked me. I looked back at him.

"No. It's nothing. Forget it." I started walking, until Slash stopped me, putting his hand on my left shoulder.

"Are you sure it's nothing, Shulk? That did look pretty serious." Slash said to me.

"You saw that?" I asked him.

"Yes. Like I said, I can see into your mind. You can't hide anything from me, but I will at least respect your privacy. You should tell the others. They have a right to know. Especially Otharon. It is him who's going to die." Slash told me. Once again, he was right. He may not say that much, but when he does talk, it's good advice to say the least. I nodded to him, and he did the same for me. He started walking after that to catch up to the others. I followed close behind him, stuck in thought on how to prevent that vision from coming true.

As we made our way through the tunnels, I couldn't stop thinking about that vision. I didn't want to see that happen. Enough people have died already. I can't let there be any more bloodshed.

"Hurry it up, slowcoach." Reyn said to me, taking me out of my thoughts for a second.

"What's wrong?" Sharla asked me. Otharon just kept walking. My thoughts began to drift back to the vision. 'Juju! Gadolt! This is for you!' Then he fell in an ether river.

" _What can it mean? 'This is for you.' Is Juju already dead? Or is he going to be killed? Is that why Otharon… But then… What does that mean? If we keep moving, is Otharon really going to die?"_ I ran to catch up to the others, seeing how they were ready to leave me behind. "No!" I shouted. They turned around to face me.

"What's wrong, Shulk?" Reyn asked me.

"This battle is for my people. If you can't handle it, drop that weapon and head home." Otharon told me.

"That's not it! I… It's just that…" I couldn't really say it.

"Out with it!" Otharon shouted at me.

"Listen… Maybe we shouldn't just rush in head first."

"What?" Otharon was getting a little upset with me.

"We got this far." Reyn said.

"I think we should observe them and plan our attack afterwards." I said.

"You insolent… We don't have that kind of time! You don't know a damn thing about these machines. I have observed their movements. I've planned this attack for a month! I know full well what's going to happen to my brothers and sisters!" Otharon yelled at me.

"It's just…" I just couldn't say it.

"We're going. Fall in, Medic." That was all he said before he walked away.

"Sir." Sharla said. "What's got into you?" She now asked me.

"I…" Why is this so hard to say right now?

"A vision again?" Reyn asked.

"You better tell them, Shulk, or I'll do it for you." Slash said to me.

"Don't tell me, another death?" Reyn kept going.

"Yeah." I said.

"I knew it. The Shulk I know doesn't just chicken out for any old reason." Reyn said. Sharla looked over at Slash.

"This vision… Was it like before?" She asked. I decided to answer instead of Slash.

"Kind of." I said. Now everyone was looking at me. "I saw an underground ether river. And Otharon…"

"An ether river. You know what? That sword lets you see the future. All that power and you still keep getting it wrong." Reyn told me.

"Better to use my brain than my fists."

"Shulk, I may rush in head first, but at least my head's useful for something."

OK, OK. I get the idea."

"I ain't done yet! You're useless on your own, Shulk. That's why we're here."

"Reyn, I…"

"Next time you have a vision, you tell us. We bear the burden together, as a team. You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together. Got it?"

"Got it."

"What was that?! Say it like you mean it!"

"I got it, all right! Next time, I'll tell you."

"He's right, Shulk." Sharla said. "You 2 saved Juju once before. I know we can do it again. I believe in you."

"We all do, Shulk." Slash said.

"Thanks." I said. _"They're right. We'll change what happens. Anyway, I didn't see Juju and the others dying. There's still hope."_ With that, we were on our way once again. We were going to rescue Juju. I just knew it.

 **(OK. That's Chapter 2. Again, please review and send me any notes you may have. I want this story to be the best I can make it for you all. I hope you all like it so far. 'Till next chapter.)**


	3. Chapter 3

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey guys. Here's the next chapter of my fanfiction. This is harder than I thought it would be, but it's still nice to do. Enjoy.)**

Chapter 3

Slash POV

OK. Now that everything's settled, we can finally rescue Juju. But how are we going to get there? Otharon left us. I hope Sharla knows this place, or else we'll be lost in here for a while. I am curious though. If I can see into other people's minds, can I reach out with my mind to see Otharon's? Is that even possible? That would be pretty cool, I will admit. But for now, I better not try anything like that. I don't want to hurt myself. Again, I'm still new to this.

Anyway, after a few hours of finding our way through the Ether Mines, fighting Mechon and aggressive wildlife we found in there, I thought we weren't going to catch up to Otharon. Sharla's rifle and skills as a medic came in handy in multiple occasions. My injury slowed me down more than I thought, but I only has a few scratches that Sharla patched up in to time. Reyn's pike, or whatever his weapon is, can be very useful not just for attacks, but for defense as well. Against that, it's like fighting a steel wall. Shulk and the Monado exhibit a lot of power for the front lines, but I can feel the anger inside him growing with each Mechon we destroy, and I can understand that completely. Moving on. We finally made it to the Central Pit. I can see why it was called that. It looked like a huge drill-like device was sitting in the center of an equally enormous source of ether.

"We're here… The Central Pit." Sharla said. Reyn and I both looked over the edge of the cliff we were on. I saw how far down it was. I flinched at that. We were really high up from where we were supposed to go. I backed away a little after that. I really don't want to fall from this height, and no, I'm not scared of heights. You should see how far down it was. You fall, and it's a guaranteed death. Reyn stood there for a second, thinking.

"Where are they all? I don't see anyone." Reyn said.

"Probably at the bottom." I said. "And no doubt that Mechon will be waiting for us." I felt a chill run right through my spine at that. Why did I feel that? It was probably due to that Mechon's eating habits. Ugh. Disgusting.

"We'll take take lift." Sharla said, motioning to the lift behind her.

"I'm ready to mash some Mechon!" Reyn said, feeling a little too confident right now.

"Yeah! Juju, Otharon… Just hold on!" Shulk said, determined to save them. As we took the lift down, I couldn't help but think about that bronze-faced Mechon.

" _This Mechon is without a doubt different from the others. Not just physically, but mentally as well. The usual Mechon don't have a thought process. They are just that predictable, but this one. The way he thinks, his emotions, or rather the fact that he even has a thought process. Why is that? Could that be the reason the Monado doesn't affect him? Because he is sentient? He thinks and acts like a living, breathing Homs, but with an eating disorder. Heh. Although, his eating habits are very disturbing. I wonder, did he start off like this?"_ The lift finally hit its destination, taking me out of my thoughts. I followed the others, but those thoughts never left me. I couldn't stop thinking about why he was different.

"Hey. You all right, Slash?" I heard Shulk ask me.

"Yeah." I told him. "Just lost in thought."

"About what?"

"That Mechon that took Juju."

"Oh."

"No. I mean, why is he different? Why can't the Monado affect faced Mechon? That's all."

"I understand. I was wondering the same thing myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You already know, but back in Colony 9, we had encountered another faced Mechon. The Monado didn't affect him either, but it didn't speak. It was silent, but showed more skill as it fought. We couldn't do anything when it took Fiora from us. I knew it was going to happen as well, but I couldn't stop it from happening. I couldn't save her." I saw a single tear role down his cheek from telling me that. I could see how painful it was for him.

"It's not your fault, Shulk. You didn't know how you would prevent it. You are still new when I comes to using the Monado. Just like as I'm still new to my mental abilities." I attempted to help him calm down a little. It seemed to be working, but not a lot. "Look. I know you will avenge her. You are getting stronger with each battle. We all are. And don't forget, we are here to help you out whenever you need it." That calmed him down.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it." We continued walking for a while in complete silence, as long as you don't count hearing our footsteps. Heh. We found a place to get onto the central shaft, or whatever it was, to get to the other side, and reach the other lift. I looked down once again. I saw we had to take 2 or 3 more lifts down to the bottom. Almost each one was on the other side of the shaft. We had to go across the shaft each time we needed to get to the next lift. I can tell this is going to take a long time, but at least there are a lot of Ether Crystals along the way.

As soon as we got on the shaft, we found multiple Mechon on the shaft with us. I knew it seemed too easy at first. Nothing is ever easy when you're around these guys. But that just makes it better for me. Makes me want to rise to the challenge. I drew my sword, and we all readied our weapons. Shulk used the Monado to enchant our weapons, so that they could affect the Mechon, with the exception of the faced ones.

" _Whoa. This is the Monado's power. This feels pretty good. I can feel it coursing through my veins. It makes me feel… Powerful. No! Don't fall into those thoughts."_ I mentally kicked myself for thinking of the Monado like that. It is powerful, but it doesn't belong to me. If I used it, I might get myself killed. Can't do that. I got out of my thoughts, only to find a Mechon charging right at me. I did the same and ducked under it's blow. I stood back up after I passed it at cut it in half. The next few went after the others. They didn't need any help as they t destroyed the Mechon in a few minutes. _"Maybe this won't take as long as I thought it would."_ Once that was taken care of, we kept in moving, encountering more Mechon along the way. They were also destroyed in as short amount of time, but it was getting harder and harder on us.

A couple hours passed by, and we made it down to the 3rd level down, I think. I knew we were close to the bottom, but this part of the shaft was dangerous. The platforms we had to stand on to get to the next lift were moving. They weren't moving vertically like the lifts, but they were moving around the shaft. Time it wrong, and I'm done. We jumped onto the first one. I nearly slipped off because of the platform's speed as it was moving. I wasn't ready for that. I kept my balance, but I needed to be ready for that next time. We had to do that one more time. We got off the first one and tried to go around a metal wall on the cliff-side keeping the shaft stable. When we got around it, the platform had already passed by. Now we had to wait for the next one, but something else happened. A part of the shaft moved and clamped down on the wall, cutting us off from the platforms. This part for the shaft reached across the entire area we were at. A hole opened up in the top of it, and a new Mechon dropped out of it. It had a claw for one hand and a drill of some kind for the other. This did not look good.

I walked up to it, but it didn't react. I waved my hand, but it still didn't move. I waited there for a few minutes, waiting for it to do something, but it never budged. I drew my sword, and that's when it moved. It looked right at me, and scanned me. It saw me as a threat now. It tried to impale me with its drill hand. I sidestepped, but I almost tripped over my bad leg. It tried to grab me, but Shulk can in and cut off its claw. Sharla literally took a few shots at it. They hit, but they didn't do much of anything. Reyn got in front of me as the Mechon took another swing at me. He blocked it for me, and I took my chance. I got out from behind him and tried to take off its drill, but it was fast enough to move out of the way and take another swing at me. I tried to block, but it never hit me. The drill went into the ground. I saw some green energy arching from the drill, and then it pulsed. We were all sent back from it. Sharla, with some distance, was the only one who stayed on her feet. She shot it right in the face, getting its attention. It looked at her, and then went after her. I took my sword and tripped it as it started to walk over to her. It fell with a thud, but it wasn't over yet. We got back on our feet just as it was starting to. Shulk and I acted, and shoved our weapons into it. Shulk cut the body in 2, while I ripped off its head. I sheathed my sword, and the part of the shaft that kept us here returned. We could now move on.

We got on the next platform, and I was ready for it this time. We got to the last area, and saw the lift through the tunnel. Right when we got there, another part of the shaft slammed down and cut us off. It was the same deal as last time, but now there were 2 of those Mechon. They noticed us immediately and walked right over to us. This time, they weren't giving us time or room to breath. They stayed close to us, and wouldn't stop attacking. I managed to trip one of them, but when I went to finish it, the other one gashed my right arm. The cut it gave me went down to the bone, but didn't break it. The side of my arm was bleeding out. If the Mechon didn't kill me, this would. Shulk came in and cut off its drill. He looked at me, and I nodded. I was still ready to fight. The Mechon I tripped got back up. Now they were only focusing on me, seeing as how I was injured. I could barely block their blows. This wound was weakening me. I couldn't keep up for too much longer. The one that still had its drill tried to impale me. I deflected it, but I dropped to one knee. I couldn't move my arm now. I saw where the drill was. It was in the ground next to me. I tried to get out of there, but I was too late. It pulsed again. I was sent to the edge of the cliff. I wasn't hanging off it, but I down on my back right next to it. They were going to push me off. The Mechon tried to grab me, but I rolled away from them and the edge in time. Right when they looked back at me, Shulk and Reyn cut them down together. I was lucky today.

As I sheathed my sword and clutched onto my arm, Sharla rushed over to me. She had ether bullets ready and bandages in hand. Here we go again.

"You all right?" She asked me.

"More or less." I told her. She nodded and shot another ether bullet into the air. The blue mist dispersed once again, healing me somewhat. The wound was now closed and looking better, but it was still pretty bad. Sharla took the bandages and wrapped them around my arm afterwards. I could move my arm again, and there was hardly any pain at all, but that was going to leave another scar on me. It did cut fairly deep.

The part that cut us off returned to the shaft once again. Now we can get to the lift and finally reach the bottom. As we walked over to the lift, I looked over at Sharla, and I saw she had a worried expression on her face. She was worried about Juju. I could tell. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she looked over at me in surprise.

"Don't worry too much about it. I can feel that Juju is still alive. We will rescue him. I know it." I told her. She gave me a small, but genuine smile then, and a few tears spilled out of her eyes. She was still worried, but she was feeling much better now.

"You're right. Thanks, Slash." She said. I just nodded and turned back, but put her hand on mine. She didn't want me to leave yet. I didn't look back at her, and merely focused on the lift. When we got there, she finally let go of my hand and let me leave, so I did and let Reyn have his time with her. I could tell Reyn had a crush on Sharla, and he reminded her so much of Gadolt. She was starting to fall for him too. I didn't say anything, but I can tell those 2 would make a great couple. Pushing those thoughts away, I saw Shulk get on the lift with the others. I looked at my arm and followed them. I hope this doesn't slow me down too much, because I am not left-handed.

When the lift reached the bottom, we looked over to see what was there. We saw nothing but blood stains on the ground, and a few discarded weapons on the ground as well.

"No…" Sharla said. "They're gone." We ran down there after she said that, hoping we could find some survivors. "So whose blood is… Oh no!"

"Ahh, here at last!" I heard. I knew that voice. It was that bronze-faced Mechon. "I've been getting hungry!" He said as he flew over our heads and landed a few feet away from us.

"Shulk, isn't that…?" Reyn asked.

"It's him all right." Shulk said. "He's the one who took Juju!" The Mechon took a couple of steps to face us with his hammer in hand, and other smaller Mechon jumping in to support him.

"Juju and the others! Tell me where they are!" Sharla shouted at him. That Mechon only laughed.

"You want the brat? Well, he's right here." The Mechon said. He pointed over to Juju, and we saw him in a cage of pure energy being generated by 3 little Mechon keeping him prisoner.

"Juju!" Sharla called out, but Juju didn't move.

"He's still alive. But don't think he will be for long! As for the others, well… I just couldn't help myself. I ate them all up!" He said to us. I couldn't believe this. That cold-blooded monster! "Welcome to our banquet hall. Tonight, the main course will be you! And if I've still got room, the brat will make a tasty desert." He just laughed. What is wrong with this thing?!

"Murderer!" Shulk said to him.

"I'm Xord, your host tonight." The Mechon said.

"Xord? So you a name?" Shulk asked him bitterly.

"That's what they all say. Can't say that I remember it myself!" Xord said.

"What's he talking about" As Shulk asked that, Sharla put her hand up to her mouth and dropped to her knees. She felt horrible about this whole thing.

"Oh yes! It's good to see fresh meat on the table. These colony folk just didn't fill me up!" Right when Xord said that, he pounded his hammer into the ground.

"Other than his ideas for food, I wish I knew." I said.

"And I almost forgot." Xord said. "You won't get eaten today, Slash." That confused me. "Instead, you'll be going back to the factory by the time I'm done with ya!" He laughed again. "After all, you'll be pretty useful to us then." What?!

"What are you talking about?!" I shouted at him, but he only ignored me.

"Gadolt… The others…" Sharla said. She started crying a little. I felt her emotions. She felt like she failed her people. And worst of all, she failed the one she previously loved.

"Come on boys, dinner's ready!" Xord said. The smaller Mechon were charging straight at us now. Shulk enchanted our weapons again, and we got ready for battle. Sharla was still on her knees for a minute.

"I swear I won't stop until I've scrapped each and every one of you!" Sharla screamed at the Mechon as she got on her feet. She then started to shoot at the Mechon like there was no tomorrow. When one fell down, she put her foot on it, aimed right at it, and fired, finishing it off. After that, another Mechon tried to hurt her, but Reyn jumped in the way and sent that Mechon on its way to the ether river. It fell right in.

"Get behind me!" Reyn said to Sharla. 3 more Mechon tried to rush them, but this time, I stepped up. I cut right through them and they all fell. 5 more Mechon came up after that. Shulk got in front of me, and cut them all down with one slash.

"Reyn! Slash! Sharla! We are Homs. And we won't just stand here waiting to be eaten!" Shulk said.

"The Monado? Do you think that that thing can dent me?" Xord asked.

"How about this!" Shulk shouted as he ran up to rip apart Xord. I ran close behind him for support. We swung together, but our weapons just bounced right off. Xord chuckled at our attempt.

"I'm not Metal Face. You'll have to try harder!" Xord said as he swung at us. We dodged his hammer easily.

"It's the same as before. The Monado's useless against this guy." Shulk said.

"But that doesn't mean we're just going to give up." I said, as the battle begun.

Xord began to swing his hammer at us. Just like the last time, we ran and dodged every blow, but he was a bit more vicious this time. We didn't really get a chance to attack this time. For some strange reason, he swung mostly at me. Why me? Shulk is a bigger threat since he has the Monado, so why is he going after me? He did recognize me last time. Does Xord have something to do with my past? Now that I think about it, that would make sense, but I need to stay focused. Shulk finally got close enough to attack, and once again, the Monado bounced right off of him. Xord turned his attention over to Shulk and started swinging at him. Xord let me off the hook, but not for long. I looked over to Juju. He was still trapped in that cage of energy.

" _Here's my chance to save Juju. It's now or never!"_ At that moment, I rushed over to Juju. _"Wait. How am I going to get up there to free him?"_ I realized the Mechon holding him were just hovering about 50 feet in the air. _"OK. Can I climb the shaft?"_ I looked at it. _"That might work, but if I fall, I'll land right in the ether river. This is crazy, but I got nothing else. Let's get this over with."_ I ran to the shaft, and found a place I could start climbing. It was barely rough enough to climb on, but it was pretty sturdy. It would have to do. I started climbing. I stopped about halfway there, and looked over at Shulk and the others. They were still fighting, but Xord decided to call in reinforcements. There were a bunch of smaller Mechon attacking alongside Xord, and he kept calling up more. _"I have to hurry so I can join the others. They can last awhile, but not forever."_ I got back to climbing. I was now next to Juju, but my foot slipped, and I was dangling for a second. I recovered, but that took some energy out of me. The injuries on my right arm and my left leg were starting to wear me down. I drew my sword, and I threw it at the nearest Mechon. I hit it dead on. The energy field was weakening, and Juju fell out. I jumped after him. Once I got close enough, I reached out and grabbed him. I turned my body so he would land on top of me. When I hit the ground, I knew Juju was now safe, but I wasn't. Xord was looking right at me, and that landing made it hard for me to move.

"You little pest! You're not taking my desert away from me. After all, I'm still hungry." Xord said to me. The other 2 Mechon that held Juju deactivated and landed in the ether river, while the one with my sword had a different plan in mind. It landed far away from me, over by the lift. Xord was walking this way.

" _If I don't die here, it'll be a miracle."_ That was all I thought about now. I threw Juju away from me. His body tumbled towards my sword, but didn't make it all the way. _"Sorry guys, but it looks like I'm done here."_ I closed my eyes and waited for death to claim me. I knew Shulk and the others were too busy with the smaller Mechon to come and help me out this time. I heard the hammer pounding at something. I opened my eyes to see Shulk and the others trying to stop him. The smaller Mechon were disposed off. They were fighting Xord, but they weren't doing any sort of damage to him. Xord swung his hammer and forced everyone back. Unfortunately, I got caught in it, and was sent tumbling. As an added bonus, the force Xord exerted sent me falling into the ether river.

"No!" I heard Shulk shout before I landed in the river. Once I fell in, I thought for sure I was dead, but strangely, it didn't hurt. Matter of fact, it felt good. Great even.

" _What? The ether. Shouldn't I be dead now? This feeling… What does this mean? My leg… It feels better, and so does my arm. I can move again! How is this possible?!"_ Those thoughts kept repeating in my head for a while. I forgot that there was a battle going on, and stayed down here longer than I should have. _"I can't believe this is happening to me! This is a miracle!"_

Shulk POV

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't save Slash. He fell in the river, and I can't do anything to save him, but I need to focus on saving Juju. If I don't, Xord is going to kill Juju just as he did the others. I won't let that happen.

"We'll never get to Juju at this rate. I've got to think of something!" I said. Xord was standing right in between us and Juju, who was unconscious on the ground next to Slash's sword. I heard something close by. Reyn, Sharla, and I looked over to see a mobile artillery coming out of nowhere and crashing into Xord.

"Where did you come from?!" Xord said.

"You feeling hungry, eh?" That voice… It sounds like Otharon. Xord swung at Otharon, but using the mobile artillery, he caught it and hit Xord straight in the face. "Chew on this, scrap-for-brains!" He kept pushing Xord back, until Xord finally lost his footing and fell on his back. Otharon stayed close to him, not giving him a moment to recover. "Boy! Now's your chance. Save Juju!" He shouted at us. This isn't good.

"Otharon, don't do it!" I shouted at him, but it looks like he didn't hear me.

"Hurry up!" He shouted back at me.

"At this rate, even if we save Juju, Otharon's gonna be…" I said, thinking out loud. I then remembered what Reyn said before we got here. 'You see a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together. Got it?' I looked around to see if there was something, or anything, that could help me save Otharon. I didn't want to lose someone else. "Change the future." I saw a crane. It was still functional. I could use that. "Yes! That's it!" I looked back at Reyn and Sharla. They were right by Juju. "Reyn! You grab Juju!" I started running to that crane.

"Shulk, what are you doing?" I heard Reyn ask, but I couldn't answer him. Time was not on our side. I needed to hurry. As soon as I got to that crane, I saw Otharon pushing Xord into the center shaft. Xord was still on his back, trying to get back up and fight, but Otharon was not allowing it. Xord was finally starting to get back up.

"Old man, you think you can stop me?" I heard Xord ask.

"No I don't. But I can do this!" Otharon said. He then took the mobile artillery and attacked the center shaft. It began to leak ether.

"What?" An explosion happened right next to Xord and Otharon. The platform they were on was beginning to fall off.

"Let's see if that Mechon body of yours can withstand an ether river." I see what Otharon is doing. He's going to send Xord into the ether river, but he will be dragged down with him if this keeps up. I got the crane started. I needed to get over there fast. "Fall, you damn machine!" Otharon was pushing Xord. He was trying to make Xord fall in, but he kept resisting. Finally, the platform gave way, and Xord started to fall, and Otharon was hanging off the edge.

"Damn you!" Xord shouted as he fell.

"Otharon!" I shouted out. I got the crane moving. I was driving it straight towards Otharon. He was getting closer and closer to falling off the edge. "Hold on!" I used the cranes functions and shot the hook out to the mobile artillery. It barely caught it, and the crane started to skid. I hit the brakes, trying to get it to stop. It stopped near the edge, next to Otharon.

"Shulk!" Sharla shouted.

"What a shot!" Reyn said.

"Boy…" Otharon said as I started to pull him back up.

"We can change our destinies. Otharon… You won't die here. Not today." I said to him. All of a sudden, something happened to the crane. There was too much weight on it. But how? I looked down to see Xord hanging on to the mobile artillery.

"You cannot defeat me." He said. I held the lever, trying to keep Otharon from falling in, but the crane couldn't hold for long.

"Get out of there, quick! It's giving way!" I said. I saw Otharon getting out of the mobile artillery with the rifle in his hands, aimed at Xord. What is he doing?

"It won't be long now, my friends." Otharon started to say. "But not before… Gadolt! This is for you! This is for the people of Colony 6!" He shot at Xord's hand, and Xord fell in, screaming the entire time. The crane finally gave way, and Otharon was now falling after him.

"But I… This isn't supposed to happen. Otharon!" I screamed. I couldn't stop the vision from coming true. I could only close my eyes. I didn't want to see it a second time. I heard someone shout and a big splash. I looked up. I saw Reyn grabbing onto the crane, and holding on to Otharon's rifle, with Otharon on the other end. My vision had been prevented.

"That was close!" Reyn said. "You wanna hurry up? My arm's about ready to drop off."

"Thank you." Otharon said. He started climbing back up. Reyn gave him a hand once he reached the hook.

"Save the thanks for Shulk and his vision. As soon as I saw an ether river, I knew this had to be the place."

"Hey!" I heard some shout. That voice… That was Slash. "Down here!" We all looked down to see Slash swimming in the ether river. "You guys gonna help me or what? I don't want to be stuck down here!" Reyn and Otharon got off the crane. I lowered it to Slash. He grabbed on and I pulled him out.

"How did you survive that?" Reyn asked.

"I… I don't know." Slash said. He got off the hook and walked over to me. "Thanks for pulling me out, Shulk. How's Juju?"

"No problem. Juju is going to be all right." I told him.

"That's good. I wish I could have done more though."

"Don't worry about it. You helped save Juju, and that's good enough for us."

"We're just glad nobody died!" Reyn said. He pulled Slash into a headlock again.

"Reyn! Quit that!" Slash said to him. He let go of Slash so he could get his sword. Once he sheathed it, he walked over to Sharla and Juju. "Is he really going to be OK?" He asked Sharla.

"Yes, thanks to you." She said back.

"I didn't really do much."

"Yes you did! You saved my little brother! Really, thank you!" She then stood up and hugged Slash. He was taken by surprise, and just stood there. He was frozen. He didn't know what to do. While Sharla was hugging him, she realized he was still injured, and immediately backed off a little. "I'm sorry if that hurt you. For a second there, I forgot about-" Slash cut her off.

"You don't need to apologize, Sharla. I'm OK. Look." He started to unwrap the bandages. When they finally came off, there was only a small white mark on his right arm. He got another scar from all of this. But other than that, he didn't have a single wound. He had healed. Sharla traced the new scar on his arm with her left hand, amazed that he had healed so quickly.

"How can you-" Sharla started to say, but Slash cut her off again.

"I don't know, but at least it all worked out." Slash said. He pulled his scarf down from his face. He was smiling. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first one I got." He lowered his scarf a little more. We all saw his neck. There was another scar there. How could anyone survive something like that? That shouldn't be possible.

" _How could Slash have survived? The ether should have destroyed him. Unless… Is he even a Homs? If not, what is he then?"_ I couldn't push those thoughts away now. _"Whoever you are Slash, I will find that out. All that I have seen here proves that this cannot be ignored any longer. Is what he said to me really true, or is he just fooling us? Whatever the case, I will find out who and what you are, Slash."_

Slash POV

Xord had been defeated, I somehow survived, Otharon's death had been averted, Juju is now safe, and everything's going to be fine. But did Sharla have to hug me? It just didn't feel right. That's why I didn't return the favor. I wish I could have gotten Xord to answer some of my questions, but it's too late now. However, I can't shake this feeling that it's not over quite yet.

" _What is this feeling? Xord is dead. I can't sense his mind. But still… It just feels like it's not over. Why? Are there more Mechon waiting for us once we get out of here?"_ I looked over and saw Shulk, Reyn, and Otharon walking towards us. Sharla went back to Juju, and I just stood next to her. I was so deep in my own thoughts, I didn't even think about what the others were thinking. However, it wasn't important at the moment.

"Juju… You're safe now." Sharla said.

"What did I tell you? You and me can make anything happen." Reyn said to Shulk.

"Yeah, you were right." Shulk said back to him.

"A boy who can change the future." Otharon started to say. "I stand corrected, young man. You've done a great dead here today."

"I didn't really do anything. I couldn't have done it without you guys." Shulk told him.

"Tell me. Your vision saved me. But what of the others? What happened to Gadolt?" Nobody said anything for a while. I tried to focus and see if I could sense him. Unfortunately, I couldn't find him at all.

"I'm afraid Gadolt may well and truly be gone." I said. "I can't sense him anywhere."

"I see…" Otharon said, letting his head hang.

"I'm sorry, Otharon. I wish we could have gotten here sooner, so we could have saved the others." I felt horrible that the other people from Colony 6 had to meet such a fate at the hands of Xord. That monster deserved to die for his crimes.

"It's not your fault, young man. By the way, how do you know Gadolt and the others are dead? And how did you survive falling in the ether river?" Otharon asked me.

"I'll tell you once we're out of the mines. All of you. You should at least know my story, but we should get out of here before more Mechon show up and see what we did to Xord." I told everyone.

"You make a good point. You're right. We should get moving." Otharon said.

"Lead the way." I watched as Otharon started to walk, but he wasn't going towards the lift. He walked over to Sharla. What has he got planned. I walked over to hear what was going on.

"Sharla, take this. Gadolt would have wanted you to have it." Otharon said to her. He then handed her the rifle. I understand it now. That was Gadolt's rifle. Sharla accepted it, and held it close to her.

"Time to head back to the camp." Reyn said.

"We'll need to get Juju some medical attention." Shulk said.

"There's a freight elevator on the next level. From there, it's an easy route out of the mine. As long as it's working…" Sharla told us.

"We'll know that when we get on it." That was fairly obvious, Reyn.

"You make me laugh." Personally, I don't see how it's funny, Sharla. But to each his own. At least I remembered that saying.

"Well, I'm right, ain't I?"

"You're absolutely right. We need to move on and stop worrying about every little thing. Come on, guys." Otharon started to walk to the lift. Sharla followed close behind him. Shulk and Reyn stayed close to her, but I hung back for a little bit, lost in my thoughts again.

" _I don't get it. Xord is dead. I can't sense him. So… Why do I have this feeling? Why isn't it over just yet?"_ I walked closer to the ether river. _"I don't see how Xord could have survived that. Then again… I didn't think I would. Maybe… Just maybe he's still down there. If he is, why can't I sense him now? Is the ether blocking me somehow?"_

"Hey!" I heard someone shout out to me. "You coming or what?" That's Reyn.

"Yeah. I'm coming." I ran over to the lift. As soon as I got on, Shulk activated it, and we were moving. I kept looking down at the ether river, thinking Xord might not be done just yet.

"Hey. What were you doing back there?" Sharla asked me, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh. Nothing. Just thinking." I told her.

"Thinking? About what?"

"Well, I have this feeling it's not over just yet. I feel like Xord will just come out of that river and try to kill us again. I don't know why, but it's just there, and it won't leave me alone."

"Really?"

"Yeah. When something like that won't leave you alone, it's never a good thing. I can't explain it, but I don't think this fight is over yet."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Like I said, it's just a weird feeling. Just ignore me. It's nothing, really."

"Oh, OK." I know I said it's nothing, but it really isn't. I just don't need the others worrying over something that just might really seem to be nothing.

The lift reached the top, and we started walking once again. We made it back to the moving platforms. At least we don't have to fight those Mechon again. We waited until one platform reached our cliff-side. When it finally got here, we jumped on. I didn't lose my balance that time. Not even slightly. Maybe that has to do with my leg being healed. We jumped off at the last cliff-side and walked up to the elevator Sharla told us about. Shulk walked up to the activation button, and he examined it for a little bit.

"Good. Works perfectly." He said.

"That's great, Shulk. Now let's get out of here." I said.

"You see! What did I say?" Reyn said.

"We're all impressed." Sharla said.

"Speak for yourself, Sharla." I said.

"What was that?" Reyn asked me.

"That was just a lucky guess, Reyn. I'm not impressed with that." I told him.

"Whatever." He said to me. I chuckled a little from his reaction. Shulk hit the button and we started moving up. This elevator was moving pretty fast right now. However, I sensed something approaching us from the Mines below. I knew that mindset. Xord. The elevator stopped on us. "Hey, why've we stopped?"

"Xord." That was all I said.

"What?" At that moment, Xord jumped onto the elevator. His armor looked like it had rusted everywhere, and fell apart in some places. He had a little green mist coming off of him. He did not look happy with us.

"I knew it. I knew it wasn't over yet." I drew my sword and prepared for another battle. The others were about to do the same, but I wanted him to myself. "Wait guys. I'll handle this one myself."

"Are you sure?" Shulk asked me.

"Yeah. He's been weakened from the ether. This shouldn't take too long." I was feeling a little confident right now. I knew I could take him, but I knew if I messed up, I would get crushed. Oh well. If I die, it's my own fault, but I'm ready this time. The others backed away to the end of the elevator, and Xord just stared at me for a few seconds. He started to laugh.

"You think you can beat me, when the Monado couldn't do anything?" He was mocking me, but his armor was vulnerable. I knew I could beat him.

"I don't think I can beat you." I started. "I know I can."

Xord started to swing at me just like the last time, but I was having an easier time dodging his blows. He was vicious and angry at me now. He wanted me dead. He kept swinging, and I kept dodging for a while. Finally, I saw an opening. Xord took one last swing, and I ducked, ran over to his leg, and cut it in half. I backed up so I could face him. He dropped as soon as he moved again. He tried crawling over to me. He raised his hammer for one last attack.

"Still hungry!" He screamed at me. The hammer came down, but I didn't move at first. The others were yelling at me to move as the hammer came down at me. Right when it was about to hit me, I cut the end in half, and cut the handle off as well. The 2 halves landed to my sides. "What?!" I ran up to him, and gave him a straight vertical slash down the middle of his body. I then sliced him 2 more times, making an X on him. Finally, I gave him a horizontal slash right through his body. The cut marks on him formed a star with 8 points on it. At first, nothing happened, until I sheathed my blade. Once it was back in the scabbard, Xord's body fell apart along the lines. The were a few explosions, putting what was left of him on the edge of the elevator. I just stood there, looking at him. Now it was over.

"Did you get him?" Reyn asked me.

"Yeah. I got him. He's done now." I told him. Although Xord's limps had come off completely, his body was still mostly intact, including his face. But now he wasn't a threat anymore. Shulk and I walked over to him. I still had a few questions for him. Once we got close enough to his face, he started to talk again.

"Got to hand it to you. You beat me without even releasing the true power of the Monado, or your own real power, Slash." He said to us.

"True power?" Shulk asked. "What do you know about the Monado?"

"Sorry, boy, I can't tell you that. You'll have to find out the truth on your own."

"What do you know about me?" I asked him. "What the hell am I?"

"I'm surprised you don't remember. It was the same day you got that scar on your face, Slash." He's avoiding my question.

"OK then. Answer this then. How do you even know me?"

"Don't worry about that. If you can't remember, you'll find out in time. Then your eyes will be opened, just like mine were when I became what you see now. Was a good ride while it lasted." What in Bionis is he even talking about?

"When you became like this? What do you mean?" Shulk asked. I went and searched through his mind, hoping to find an answer. Unfortunately, Xord started to slip off the edge. I finally saw something then. I saw a Homs man. He was being tortured, experimented on, and eventually, he became Xord. That unnerved me. He started off a normal guy, until the Mechon made what he is now. That's why the Monado didn't work on him.

"Time's up, pipsqueak. I'm gone!" Xord tumbled right off the edge, but I didn't care. I got some answers, and that's all I needed right now.

"Xord!" Shulk shouted. As soon as Xord hit the bottom, he exploded. Shulk looked over the edge.

"Get back!" Reyn told him. Shulk didn't move at all. He just watched as Xord had his final moment. As soon as the elevator reached the top, Reyn threw Juju over his shoulder, and we all ran. Another explosion came from the elevator, and it was much bigger than the last one. It sent us all off of our feet. It took us a minute to recover from that, but it was over. Xord was truly dead this time, and Colony 6 belongs to us once again. "We smashed that bronze idiot. Now the people of Colony 6 can rest in peace." Reyn said as he put Juju down in the grass. Sharla was there next to him, holding Juju close to her, afraid that if she let go, he would be taken from her again.

"Yeah." Sharla said. Juju started to move a little. He was waking up. "Are you OK?"

"Sharla?" Juju said.

"Thank the stars you're all right."

"Where are we?"

"Just outside Colony 6. Thanks to Shulk, Reyn, and Slash, we destroyed that thing. But not everyone made it."

"Oh… I'm so sorry. Shulk, Reyn, Slash… I didn't mean to cause any more trouble, running off like that." Juju said, finally standing up.

"Forget about it, kid." Reyn said. "We settled the score."

"Those Mechon are no longer in control of Colony 6. It belongs to all of you again." I said.

"Thanks." Juju said.

"Yes, but there's still no sign of that Mechon with the metal face. He's the one we're really after." Shulk said.

"Speaking of the Mechon…" I said, pointing behind Shulk and Reyn.

"Hope I'm not interrupting" The faced Mechon from Shulk's memories said, as he flew over to us. It's one face Mechon after another today. I drew my sword, and prepared for the worst.

 **(There's chapter 3. That took longer than I thought. If you're having trouble visualizing some of the characters, look them up online. I know I don't do the best job of describing. Please review and send me any notes you my have, and I'll get back to you with the 4** **th** **chapter. Hopefully, it won't take as long this time.)**


	4. Chapter 4

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(I'm back everyone. Where are all the reviews, people? I thought you guys would leave me at least a couple of notes. I was hoping for 1 or 2 more reviews. Nonetheless, here's chapter 4 for you all. Enjoy.)**

Chapter 4

Slash POV

"It's him!" Shulk said. "Metal face!" After he said that, a lot of Mechon dropped in. There were also other face Mechon that looked exactly like Xord. This doesn't look good.

"Not just him! A whole bunch! And tons of 'em look like Xord!" Reyn said. Metal Face flew to the front of all these Mechon and landed.

"Pathetic! After all that talk, Xord was crushed by worthless maggots like you." Metal Face said. Figures he can also talk. He's different from the others, physically and mentally.

"This one can talk 'n' all!" Reyn said.

"I can talk all right. And I got a good memory." What does he have planned? "'Fiora! Get outta here! Get out!' Her screams were music to my ears as my claws slid right through her soft flesh. Like a hot knife through butter." He started laughing after he said that.

"Cold blooded monster! That's a new low, even for you, Metal Face!" I shouted to him. He looked right at me then.

"Ah-ha. What do we have here? Looks like Slash is back for another scar on his body." Metal said with a laugh yet again. "Our leader still wants you back. After all, a Mechon that can read minds would be fun to have around." My eyes widened at that. I was supposed to be a face Mechon? "I can still remember the look on your girl's face when she saw you taken away from her. That look of hopelessness was priceless!" He started laughing again. I was frozen at what he said. Memories started to flood back to me. Time seemed to have stopped as I was forced to relive something I had previously forgotten. I saw a lighthouse of some kind. I was inside of it, looking at everything around me. I was different. I had silver hair, sapphire blue eyes, and strangely enough, wings on the top of my head. They weren't very big, but they were there nonetheless. I heard something, and went outside to look. Mechon had landed all around me. I was fighting them. I disabled them, but I couldn't destroy them. I tried to get out of there, but Metal Face stopped me. He took his claws and cut my face. Now I know where I got the scar on my face from. He also cut off the wings I had. I screamed in pain. I heard someone calling out to me. I could tell it was a girl, but I couldn't see her face. She was too far away. I reached out to her, but it was futile. Finally, Metal Face took his time and slowly dragged his claws across my throat. I started to choke on my own blood. My strength left my body, and I went limp, but I was still alive. She didn't know that though. The Mechon grabbed my body, and flew away with me in tow. There was nothing I could do.

Everything faded away, and I was standing with Shulk and the others again. I couldn't believe what I just saw. That was really one of my lost memories. Why did that have to happen to me? What is so special about me that the Mechon would do that? Why did I look like that before? How long ago was it? These new questions kept popping into my head, and they wouldn't stop coming. That one memory left more questions than it did answers.

"Talk all you want." I heard Shulk say. I looked over and saw the Monado had been activated. "Because those words will be your last!" He shouted as he ran towards Metal Face. I was still in shock as to what I just saw. I couldn't move at all right now. I could only watch. Shulk ran up to him and tried to attack, but Metal Face just blocked it with his claws, and pushed Shulk back a little bit.

"The Monado? Heh, it's been awhile. But you should know by now. The Monado can't stop me!" Right when Metal Face said that, he swung at Shulk. Shulk blocked it with the Monado, but he was sent sliding across the ground right back to us.

"Shulk!" Reyn, Sharla, and I shouted. Now I could move again. We ran up to Shulk to make sure he was OK.

"I'm gonna…" Reyn started, but Metal face didn't let him finish.

"Any way you slice it, the Monado ain't gonna work, boy. Didn't work then, won't work now. Now, time to cut you down to size!" He raised his claws, and prepared to finish us right away. He was about to strike, when an ether bullet exploded in front of him. "What?!" We all looked up to see an old man with a gun pointed at Metal Face. White pants, blue shirt, blonde hair, red bandana around his forehead, and a mustache. Who was this guy?

"Now! Let 'em have it, Beast!" The man said. Who was he talking to? That question was answered soon, as another man came running down the side of the cliff the first guy is standing on. This new guy had a red vest, white long sleeved undershirt, long black hair, some black cape covering his right arm, and a sword in his left. It wasn't like my sword. It was a little curved, and only had one sharp edge. I think it's a katana of some kind. This guy ran in front of one of the smaller Mechon and cut one of its joint sections. The Mechon fell. He did the same thing to another Mechon that was close by. Same result. He turned to face us. Strength, speed, and precision. Who is this man?

"Dunban!" Shulk said.

"How did you…?!" Reyn couldn't finish that sentence.

"Sorry to have kept you. Looks like we were just in time." Dunban said. The other guy came sliding down the cliff-side and walked over to us with his gun still in hand. We were lucky that they saved us, but I fear we dragged them down with us.

The fight began, and we all started to tear apart every single Mechon that was here. Reyn stayed close to Shulk, Sharla stayed behind us, Dunban was in the front next to Shulk, Otharon was keeping Juju safe, the other guy, since I don't know his name, was close behind Dunban, and I stayed in the back, fighting off Mechon that tried to surround us. A couple of the face Mechon swung at me with their hammers. They really are just like Xord, except they don't talk at all. The smaller Mechon were everywhere. They just kept on coming. Knock down 1, and 2 more pop up.

"Where are all these Mechon coming from?!" I shouted. I looked all around me, but I didn't see where they were coming from, until one landed next to me. I cut it down and looked up. There were at least 10 carriers filled with Mechon above us. They just kept dropping Mechon on us, and they didn't look like they would be stopping anytime soon. I was doing fine, until one of the face Mechon's hammers hit me right in the chest. I hit the ground hard. I got back up, but I was having a hard time breathing. This did not look good for me. The fight kept on going, and as it was, I began to slow down. My lack of breath was going to be the death of me at this rate.

"There's no end to them. Where are they coming from?" Reyn said as he took down another Mechon. I ran over to him and the others. I would need their support soon, if not now.

"I can take the smaller ones. But the rest'll be like fighting Xord over and over!" Sharla said.

"If only the Monado would work on these things!" Shulk said.

"Focus, Shulk!" Dunban shouted at him.

"Look out!" Reyn said. He shoved Shulk out of the way of a Mechon before it could strike. I got in front of it, and cut it in half.

"You guys all right?" I asked them. Metal face started to laugh again.

"Look at you all." He said. Were we his entertainment now?

"Look at this, metal brain!" The blonde guy shouted. He took a shot at Metal Face, but he only blocked it.

"That it, grandpa?!"

"Running out of ideas here."

"You may be able to block a projectile." Dunban started to say as he ran up to Metal face. "But let's if you can block this!" Dunban jumped in the air, and tried to cut Metal Face, but he only blocked it with his claws again. Metal Face started laughing again. Why is he laughing so much right now?

"Tell me. How does it feel to be such a pathetic hero?" He asked Dunban before he swatted him away like a bug. I took advantage of this and moved to the other side, since Metal Face was focused on Dunban. I looked back and saw Dunban land on his feet, but he was clutching his right arm in pain.

"You OK, Dunban?" Shulk asked him, but he didn't respond.

"Aw, does it hurt? I bet it does." Dunban looked up to see Metal Face. "It hurts, because the Monado won't work for a bunch of losers like you!" He swung his claws at Dunban, but he missed. Dunban rolled to the left in order to dodge. I just waited for the right moment.

"What are you?" Dunban asked Metal Face.

"Save it, I ain't interested. You little maggots need to learn when you've been stepped on!" Metal Face started to charge up a blue ball of energy after he said that.

"Everyone! Fall back, now!" Dunban shouted.

"Won't change a thing. I'm gonna wipe you out once and for all!" Metal Face took aim.

"Not this time!" I shouted at him. Luckily, he didn't see me coming. He looked over at me, but didn't have any time to react as I plunged my sword into his right eye. His entire body moved to the side a little, and he fired, but he hit one of the other face Mechon by mistake.

"What?! How did you-" I cut him off.

"Doesn't feel so good on the other end, does it?" I said to him. After being forced to remember that, I was furious. He shook me off, but I landed near the others. As soon as I hit the ground, I clutched my chest in pain. It was getting worse.

"Slash, you OK?" Shulk asked me.

"Not really." I told him. "I can't really breath. One of those face Mechon hit me in the chest." I dropped to one knee. My strength was almost gone now.

"You gonna pay for that one boy!" Metal Face screamed at me. He was mad at me now. Next thing I knew, I green energy bolt came out of nowhere and knocked down another face Mechon. Metal Face backed off, since the face Mechon was right next to him. "What the?!" We all looked up and saw some weird blue bird with glowing yellow wings flying above us. "A Telethia?!" It came back around and shot more energy bolts, hitting all but 2 of the other faces and Metal Face.

"Now's our chance!" Shulk said. He climbed on Metal Face's leg and sliced at his arm. The Monado actually did some damage for once. Metal Face felt that pain.

"You'll pay for that! How are you-" That was all he said before he screamed. The Monado was slowly making the cut deeper and deeper. Shulk was giving it all he had. Finally, Metal Face wouldn't take this anymore. "Enough of this!" Metal Face took another swing at Shulk, but he blocked it and landed on his feet this time. "You got lucky, brat! Next time, your head is mine! Yours included, Slash!" He switched to flight mode and flew off.

"You're not getting away!" Shulk shouted.

"Get back here!" Reyn shouted after. They ran after Metal Face, but they couldn't get very far.

"Shulk, Reyn, let it go!" Dunban told them. They stopped running. Reyn turned around to face Dunban.

"You've got to be kidding! He's the one who killed Fiora!" Reyn said.

"Know your limits. We'll get another chance."

"Fine." That was all Shulk said. The Monado deactivated after that. Shulk was not in a good mood now, and neither was I. My breathing became labored. It kept on getting worse. Everyone noticed this, and ran over to me. Dunban looked up at that bird creature one last time.

"That thing saved us. Whatever it was." Dunban said. I looked up, only to see it fly away somewhere. It was gone now. Metal Face was right. We did get lucky.

"Are you all right?" Sharla asked me.

"Can't… Breath… Anymore…" I fell forward, but Sharla caught me. "Need…" I was about to black out.

"What do you need?" Sharla asked.

"Need… Ether…" I managed to get out, before I lost consciousness.

Shulk POV

" _Need ether? What did he mean by that? Wait. The mines. The river healed him last time. I wonder… Sharla has ether bullets, doesn't she? Maybe."_

"Sharla. What do you think we should do?" I asked her.

"Well… Most of his ribs are broken or shattered. There's nothing I can do, really. It's too severe." She told me.

"Yes there is, Sharla. You have ether bullets, don't you? Can't you just use those?"

"Maybe, but I can't guarantee he'll make it."

"We'll have to try. Come on, Sharla! We have to do something!"

"OK. I'll do it, but like I said, he still might not make." Sharla started loading her rifle with ether bullets. Slash was barely breathing. We were all worried about him. After what Sharla said, I truly hope he can pull through. "OK. Here goes." She aimed her rifle at the sky above us. She fired 3 bullets, and each one dispersed a light blue cloud of ether. We all backed away, seeing as we don't really need any treatment at the moment. The dispersed ether reached Slash, and covered his entire body. He started to breath it in. His breathing started to get better. It looks like he might pull through after all. He started taking deep breaths of the ether. Sharla walked back over to him. She sat down and put her hand on his chest. "Phew. He's going to be OK. He just need to rest now." We were all relieved to hear that. My thoughts began to turn back to the vision I had when I struck Metal Face.

I saw a huge horn of some kind. I heard Sharla's voice. 'We must be outside the tower.' Then, it flashed over to this giant with long gray hair. He also appeared to be shackled. He said 'Welcome, True Heir to the Monado.' After that, I saw a young girl, about as old as me, run over to another old man with big wings on his head, pointed ears, and a white beard. 'Father!' That's what the girl said. Then, I saw Metal Face. 'Weak! Weak and pathetic!' He said. Slash was standing over the girl, protecting her. 'Who do you think you are to try and hurt the princess?!' He said. What did he mean by that? I saw myself. I was angry about something. 'You will pay for what you've done!' I screamed. There was another face Mechon there, but I didn't quite see it. I saw the Monado's appearance had changed. The blade of light was longer than usual. I swung it, and it cut right through Metal Face's armor. His left arm came off. Metal Face was on the ground now. I was walking up to him with the Monado in my hands. 'You will know the pain and suffering you caused the Emperor and Fiora!' I said to him as I raised the Monado over my head to finish him off. The other Mechon had taken the blow for him. I saw something unusual, but I didn't see what though.

" _What did that vision mean? Who was that girl? Where did that other face Mechon come from? Where were we even fighting? Who was that giant old man? 'True Heir to the Monado.' What does that mean? Does that have something to so with my ability to wield the Monado? I'll have to figure this out later. If that vision comes true, I can finally defeat Metal Face. The Monado will finally affect face Mechon. I need that power if I want to end this."_ While I was stuck in my thoughts, everyone was introducing themselves to each other. Slash was still unconscious at the moment. I turned my attention back to the others.

"Dunban, Dickson, thanks for helping us out back there." I said to them.

"I don't believe we did anything." Dunban said.

"He's right. Save your thanks for that giant bird." Dickson said.

"What was that thing?" I asked.

"A Telethia. A mystical beast that protects the sleeping Bionis. Though I've never heard of one ever venturing down to where us Homs live. Strange." Dickson told us.

"A Telethia. So that's what it's called." Dunban said.

"A mystical beast that protects the Bionis." I said, thinking out loud again. After I said that, I heard someone groaning. I looked over and I saw Slash was awake and getting up.

"Ow. That one hurt. Why am I the one who gets hurt in these fights?" He said. I noticed everyone else had looked over to see what was happening. I didn't really care at the moment. I'm just glad he's going to be fine. He is a good friend after all.

Dunban POV

"So, that man is awake now, I presume? That's good." I said. "Against the Mechon, we may need all the help we can get, especially against those face Mechon."

"Yeah." Shulk said.

"I assume we will need to introduce ourselves then?" This young man barely cheated death. He must have a strong will to survive. I saw he was now standing up and walking over to me.

"Thank you for your help in that battle." He said to me.

"No problem, but I don't believe we really did anything." I told him.

"You actually did. You gave us a better chance at survival. That was something we needed."

"I see. Well, in that case, you're welcome."

"My name is Slash. What's yours?"

"A pleasure. My name is Dunban, and this old fossil over here is Dickson."

"Fossil? You sure he's that old? He looks older than that even."

"I'm standing right here, you know." Dickson told us.

"We know. Just messing with you a little." Slash said to him.

"Heh, figures. Anyways, it's nice to meet you, but we should get back on topic before anything else."

"Of course." After Slash said that, everyone around us stayed silent for a bit.

"So, what's your plan from here? Follow that metal-faced Mechon, I presume?" I asked Shulk, breaking the silence.

"What else? He's gonna pay for what he did to Fiora." Reyn told me.

"Well then. There's only one place he'd go. Galahad Fortress in Sword Valley." I said. "A year ago, those things were building a huge fortress, right in the valley. Tactically, it's an excellent location to launch attack from. I feel there's a strong chance they've now finished building it. That would explain why both colonies were attacked recently."

"Sword Valley… The very place where we made our last stand 1 year ago." Otharon said.

"When you put it like that, it makes perfect sense. If it's that good a place for a fortress to be built, that must be where they manufacture or store the Mechon, so they can be ready for an attack on the Bionis at any time. They would be able to reach any place on the Bionis in moments from there." Slash said. He amazed me for a second there.

"Wow. I didn't expect you to be knowledgeable about tactics. Impressive." I told him.

"Actually, I kinda surprised myself with that. I wasn't expecting that at all." He said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I… I'm somewhat lacking in my current mental state."

"What do you mean by that?"

"This is something you all should know." Everyone got closer to hear what he had to say. "I can't remember anything about my past life. That's why I surprised myself of all people."

"Interesting. So you can't remember anything that happened?"

"Not really. Sometimes, I get fragments if I'm in a familiar place, or hear something that I encountered before my memory became lost, but it's all a blur. What I can make out is something that should have remained buried in my opinion."

"So, you're starting to remember?"

"I remember fighting Metal Face and the Mechon before. I was trying to run. I could disable the Mechon, but I could never destroy them. Right when I'm about to get away, Metal Face cut me off, and gave me the 2 scars you see on me now. There was also a girl there, but I can't remember anything about her, except that she was forced to watch as Metal Face clawed away at my body. I lost all the strength I had, and my body shut down. I couldn't move. The way she shouted, she thought I was dead, but I was barely alive. Then, I was carted away in his grasp. I can't remember where though." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was kept alive, so he could watch as everything he cared about was taken from him? Nobody said anything for a while.

"So, we off to the fortress?" Reyn asked, breaking the tension.

"Wait a minute, Reyn. There's somewhere else I need to go first." Shulk said. What was he talking about?

"But what could be more important than… Wait… You saw another one." Reyn said. Shulk nodded to him, telling him 'yes'.

"Saw what? What're you on about?" Dickson asked. Shulk took some time, and explained his visions to Dickson, while I decided to talk to Slash. He hasn't said anything for quite a while now. I walked over to him, and hoped I could help him feel better about this.

"How are you holding up?" I asked him.

"Better than I thought, actually." He told me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I'm still pretty angry right now."

"Oh."

"Just the thought that Metal Face did all this to me makes me want to tear him apart, and turn what's left of him into scrap I can use for training dummies."

"That's pretty angry, I'll admit. I can imagine how you're feeling right now. After all, there was this girl named-" He cut me off.

"Fiora. I know. I already got that out of Shulk. She was your little sister, and you couldn't save her when Metal Face attacked your home. You were unable to move, just like Shulk and Reyn at that time. You could only watch as Metal Face murdered her in cold blood. However, the way you see it, she gave her life in order to protect Shulk, so you refuse to cry, even though you truly felt like it. She died for something, and that was not in vain." He genuinely surprised me again. He knew the entire story. But how?

"So Shulk told you that?"

"Well…" He hesitated. "Yes and no. He never really told me, but I kinda found out his side of the story, just like I did with you."

"What do you mean?"

"That, I'll explain in a minute. Looks like Shulk is done explaining his visions to your friend, Dickson."

"OK. Let's go then." We walked over to the others, but I couldn't help but wonder what he meant when he said he figured it out. What wasn't he telling me?

"These visions sound pretty handy. Well, out with it. What d'ya see?" Dickson asked Shulk. I had to admit, I was becoming fairly curious as to what Shulk saw in his vision.

"I was somewhere very high up. I was fighting at the peak of a huge tower. Fighting Metal Face. I heard a voice, and then the Monado's power was unleashed. His armor instantly gave way. The Monado doesn't work on Metal Face at the moment, but if that vision comes true…" Shulk explained to us.

"A tower? Doesn't give us much to go on." Dickson said.

"Can you remember anything else from your vision?" Sharla asked him.

"I remember a huge horn. That's it! As I fought Metal Face, I could see the Bionis' head." Shulk said.

"Prison Island." Dickson said. Does he know this place?

"Prison Island?" Sharla asked.

"I've never been. But I've heard of a black tower at the head of the Bionis. They say it was built by the ancient High Entia race."

"The High Entia are real? I thought they were a myth!" Shulk said.

"I wouldn't blame you, son. An ancient race living at the top of the Bionis? It does sound crazy. But Bionis is home to all kinds of different people, not just us. That includes the High Entia." Dickson explained.

"The High Entia? I'd dismissed them as folklore as well." I said.

"Never assume anything. Seeing is believing, right? Besides, you got one standing right next to you, beast." Dickson said, as he pointed to Slash. "Don't think I didn't notice. I can see the pointed ears from here. I wonder though. What happened to the wings on your head? And what's with the hair and such?" We all looked over at Slash.

"You're one of the High Entia?" I asked him.

"I… Didn't know." He said.

"But why not?" Reyn asked.

"Like I said, I couldn't remember anything about my past life until recently. That includes my heritage, and place of birth. I might have been born different, or something happened to make me like this. I don't know, but I hope to find out one day." Slash explained to us. I could hardly believe it at first, but he did explain his current situation. "All I can do now is hope some familiar surroundings and other such things can help me regain my lost memories. But…" Slash stopped there for a second. Something was on his mind, but he didn't want to say anything.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"It's just… Those face Mechon… There's just something about them that makes me wonder…"

"What're you on about, Slash?" Dickson asked him.

"I think I might know the reason the Monado doesn't affect face Mechon, but you're not gonna like it." Slash told us. "You remember what Metal Face said to me. 'A Mechon that can read minds would be fun to have around.' I think that means they were planning to have me turned into a Mechon. Maybe that's why the Monado can't cut them. They might have been people like us once." That very thought unnerved me. Face Mechon used to be people like us? That can't be true. There must be another reason the Monado doesn't work on them. Reyn walked up to Slash and just stood there for a minute. He then slapped Slash across his face.

"Don't you dare even think about something like that! Face Mechon are different, but they are not people! Why are you thinking like that?! Mechon are all machines, nothing else!" Reyn shouted at him. He didn't say a word. Slash finally walked right past him and started to make his way back to Gaur Plain. "Hey! Where are you going?! Get back here!" Slash didn't listen, and kept on walking. He stopped and turned to face us.

"You think I don't know what I'm talking about, Reyn? Well, don't think like that about me. All I've tried to do is help since I met you guys, and this is how I'm treated? The fact of the matter is I saw into Xord's mind before he died, and I didn't see Xord. I saw a normal Homs being experimented on, tortured, and in serious pain. If you want to go to Prison Island, go ahead. But I need to see to something first. I'll meet you in Satorl Marsh later. You should at least check on the camp before you go first. The Mechon may have attacked while you were away." Slash walked away after that.

"Reyn!" Shulk shouted. "What were you thinking?!"

"I-I just um…" Reyn couldn't say anything.

"You just chased off Slash! You do realize we are going to need his help if we want to catch Metal Face!"

"I agree with Shulk. That was very careless of you, Reyn. You need to make allies, not enemies." I told him.

"I guess I overreacted a little." Reyn said.

"A little? You overreacted a little too much. But at least Slash isn't leaving us. It just looks like he needs time to himself to think." I said.

"However, he did say he would meet us in Satorl Marsh later. He knew that's where we had to go in order to get to the top of the Bionis." Dickson mentioned. He did know that, but he said he lost his memory. There's something he's not telling us.

"He does have a point." Sharla said. "We have been away from the camp for a while. We should head back there first. I just hope everyone there is OK."

"All right. We'll stop by the camp first. We need to restock our supplies anyway, so this is a good opportunity." Shulk said.

"All right. Lead the way." I said. We started walking back to Gaur Plain after that.

"You want to come with us?" Shulk asked me.

"Scared I'll get hurt?" I asked him, messing with him a little in the process.

"No way! We know you're stronger than anything! Right, Reyn?"

"You bet!" Reyn said.

"I've recovered a great deal since we last met. And that miserly old coot over there made me this. Sharp, light. Perfect for cutting through steel. Show me a Mechon and I'll slice it in 2. I might not be in peak condition, but I'm useful." I told them.

"I can't thank you enough." Shulk said to me.

"We're in it together now."

"You can count on us, Dunban."

"Miserly old coot? That sword is forged from Mechon armor. It's worth every penny." Dickson said again. He's told me that several time already.

"So you keep saying…" I told him.

"If you want to get to the Bionis' head, you'll need a guide to get to the upper regions." Dickson said.

"We're at the bottom, so I guess the only way to go is up."

"Right. But we'll need to up the lower back first."

"The lower back…" Shulk said.

"Colony 6 is right at the top of the Bionis' leg. So we'll have to head around the waist. Through Satorl Marsh." Dickson told us.

"OK. But we should take Slash's advice first and head back to the camp." Sharla said. After what Slash told us before he left, courtesy of Reyn, it sounded like a good idea. I just hope he keeps his promise to meet us in Satorl Marsh later.

"Good idea." Shulk said. "We don't know what's happened to the camp since we left."

"Hopefully, nothing came to pass for those people." I told them. We started walking back to Gaur Plain. Otharon and Dickson were talking to each other almost the entire time, Shulk was trying to talk some sense into Reyn after what happened, Sharla and Juju were staying close to each other, and I was just close by.

" _Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long. After all, we must get to Galahad Fortress as soon as we possibly can. If Shulk's vision come true, we might be able to stand a chance once we get there. We don't know how many face Mechon there are or how many they have there, but we need to be able to fight them, especially Metal Face. But, for some reason, I can't help but feel that I know him somehow. Maybe it has something to do with what Slash said about the face Mechon. He did present a very good point in all of that. The Monado can't cut people, just like it can't cut through the faces. I wonder…"_

Slash POV

" _Damn it all, Reyn! I can hear you're thoughts from here even! Stop thinking I'm a straight up insane freak! Ugh! Forget it. I've got more important things to worry about. Metal Face knows me, just like Xord knew me. And the way Metal Face spoke to me and Shulk… He was mocking us. He thought that our loses were hilarious. I wish I didn't get distracted in that battle. I could have seen into his mind, and maybe gotten some answers. He is stronger than Xord is, so he will undoubtedly last longer. That just means more time for me to get something out of him."_

I couldn't get out of my thoughts as I kept walking. What he said to me was surprising, and bad enough, but what happened after… Was that a memory? I could have lived without that one. Too late now. It buried itself in my head. Now, I can't forget it. It keeps repeating itself in my mind whenever I let my guard down. Who was that girl calling out to me? Why didn't Metal Face kill me right then and there? What happened to me between now and then? I understand the wings, but the hair and the eyes are a mystery. Not to mention my new abilities. I need to find that out. I did find out 1 thing about Metal Face. He enjoys killing and other people's suffering. I have a hard time holding in my hatred towards that Mechon. I had to vent it out somehow.

I wandered all the way back to the guidepost that was next to the oasis where we met Juju. I started looking around the place a little, and found a block path leading somewhere. I decided to take a look. I walked along the path, and saw a bunch of huge spider creatures half my size. They mostly ignored me, but a few tried to pick a fight with me, only to be chopped in half. I also saw a lot of pods with Mechon armor in them. I decided not to mess with those. At the end of the path was an ancient shrine of some kind. It looks like it hadn't been visited in a few thousand years. I just walked over to it to get a closer look. This place felt familiar to me now. I looked to the right of the shrine. I saw a narrow path. If I slipped, I would fall off the Bionis itself. I was about to walk over there when I heard something. Im looked back, but I didn't find anything. I walked over to the edge of the shrine and looked over the edge. Next thing I knew, I giant version of those spider things was standing right in front of me. It crawled from the cliff-side towards the back of the shrine to where I was. It must have heard me somehow. It was 3 times my size, light gray, had several eyes on its face, 8 long legs, and fangs the size of daggers. It was angry with me.

" _Finally! A chance to vent out my anger. I needed this."_ I could feel the adrenaline flowing through me now. I wanted this. I wanted to kill this thing. I drew my sword and waited for it to make a move. _"This is it. You want me, big guy? Come and get me!"_ Let the fight begin.

The creature raised its front right leg and tried to impale me right away. I sidestepped to the right, but the force it put out cracked the ground below us. I didn't care at the moment. I charged straight at it. It started swinging 6 of its 8 legs at me, each one trying to stab me in some random spot. The way its legs looked, you could mistake those for steel daggers or spikes. As it continued to assault me, I couldn't get any closer. I could only dodge or block now. When it finally stopped, it charged at me this time with its fangs bared at me. I jumped on its back, but that only made it even angrier. It tried to shake me off, but I managed to hold on for a while. When my grip slipped, I fell close to the cliff. The sword landed next to my head as it stabbed itself into the ground. Of course that also slipped out of my hand while I was trying to hold on. The creature was hanging over me now. It tried to bite my head off, but I rolled to the side, making it miss. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to grab my sword. I was now disarmed. I needed to get that back, but the creature was in between me and my sword. It faced me again. This time, its eyes had a slight red glow to them. It was furious. It shot webs out of its mouth at me. I got out of the way, but the webs got all over the ground. My options were limited. It ran at me. It tried to impale me again. I took advantage of its movement and slid under its belly. Now I was close to my sword, but not quite there yet. I ran over to it and grabbed it. I Yanked it out of the ground and noticed something strange about it. Other than its design, it had a very small blurry line or something down the middle. It went all the way down to the handle, and the dagger on the bottom.

" _What is this? Is my sword cracked? Is it breaking on me already?"_ That very thought put me in a panic. If my sword was breaking, I would die here. This creature was coming at me again. It began its assault once again, swinging the same 6 legs as last time. I blocked them, but I was getting more and more worried that my sword would break. _"I can't let this keep up. My sword is reaching its limit now."_ When the assault stopped, I got some distance from it before it could strike again. _"Well, I guess I should make this count then."_ I looked at my sword one more time, and prepared for the final blow. I was ready, until I felt something on the handle. It was slightly rough, and was on both sides of the line. _"What is this?"_ I looked at what I felt. It seemed that the handle was perfectly normal, but it clearly wasn't. I looked I little closer and found a couple on the diamond shapes on the handle sticking out just a tiny bit. Curiously, I pushed the diamonds back down, but what happened next surprised me. The sword split down the middle. Now I had 2 blades to wield. One in each hand. _"OK. This is pretty cool. Where did I get this sword? Wait. What was holding the 2 halves together?"_ I pushed those thoughts out of my head, and focused on the battle again. I guess being half blind is good. My left eye is twice as strong, and my other senses are enhanced as well. The only downside is my center isn't centered, but I'm already used to that. The creature began its assault yet again. I had a much easier time blocking this time. I cut off its legs as it assaulted me. It dropped down and tried to move, but without those legs, it couldn't move much. I drove the blade in my right hand into its head, killing it. I pulled it out and kept stabbing, now with both blades. I could finally let out my anger.

When I had finished, I was tired, but I felt a lot better. I pushed the diamonds down again, and the 2 halves came back together almost instantly. _"I should have Shulk check this out. This is amazing. Is it magnetic or something?"_ I sheathed my sword, and decided to move forward. I climbed down to that narrow path and started walking along it. At the end of the path was a cave. Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked in there. Strangely enough, the cave was empty. _"I guess to get here was a death wish if you had to fight that thing, but not for me."_ I was feeling overly confident at the moment. When I reached the end of the cave, I witnessed the most amazing view I have ever seen. I could see all of Gaur Plain from here. The Raguel Bridge, the path to Colony 6, all the trees and wildlife, the waterfalls, and more.

"Wow. This is… Just… Wow. There are no words to describe this." I said, just thinking out loud. At that moment, I felt a small headache. It was only a little pinch, but it was still annoying. Time seemed to stop all around me as it did when we confronted Metal Face. I saw myself standing here with my wings and all. The way I was before. There was a girl next to me. She was a little shorter than me, the wings on her head were smaller than mine, silver hair that went down to her shoulders, crystal blues eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, and just plain beautiful. Not even this view could compare to her. We were just standing there, looking out at Gaur Plain, hand in hand. 'What do you think?' I asked her. She didn't say anything right away. 'It's just amazing. This view… I wish you had shown me this sooner.' She said to me. 'I tried to, but your father wouldn't allow it.' I replied. Where were we going with this? ' I know. He has been a little protective lately, but that doesn't matter now. We're together, and that's all I could ever want.' She told me. 'I feel the same about you.' I told her. We hugged each other after that. Just as suddenly as it came, it faded. Another memory had returned to me. A happy memory, but this only fueled my rage towards Metal Face. He took me away from her. He separated us. Was she the girl calling out to me in the first memory I recovered? I just wish I could remember her face once the memory fades, but for now, I will settle for that. At least I got something back today. And I hope I get some more tomorrow.

 **(There's chapter 4. I feel I may have messed up a little on this chapter, but please tell me what you think. Once again, please review and send me any and all notes you may have. Your opinion matters here. I will get back to you, and chapter 5 will be right there with me. You can bet on it.)**


	5. Chapter 5

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(OK. I'm back with chapter 5, just like I said. Enjoy it.)**

Chapter 5

Reyn POV

" _It's not my fault if Slash took that the wrong way. Then again, I don't know anything 'bout the guy. Shulk and the others might be right. I had better apologize to him once I see him in… What was it called again? Satorl Marsh? Yeah. That's it. Satorl Marsh."_ I thought as we kept following Dickson through Gaur Plain. We had already gotten water and such at the camp, and now, we were on our way to meet up with Slash. We separated when I told him off the way I did. I still can't believe he thought face Mechon are people. He's crazy, but he's still my friend. I just hope he forgives me for what I did.

Sharla POV

As we were walking, I couldn't help but think. Slash wasn't with us right now, Reyn needs to apologize, I have to find Metal Face and destroy him for what he pulled, and Juju, along with Otharon, stayed back in the camp. However, after everything that happened in the mine, I just knew Gadolt was still out there somewhere. I just need to find him. Otharon allowed it, and told me to destroy some Mechon along the way. I told him that was the idea. I just hope Gadolt really is out there somewhere, but first things first. We need Slash back here with us.

Dunban POV

As we make our way to Satorl Marsh, I can't help but think about what Slash said before he walked away, thanks to Reyn.

" _What he said about those face Mechon… Is he telling the truth, or is Reyn correct about this? Then again… Slash did present a good point about them in his explanation, and Metal Face spoke to us as if he knew us. I wonder…"_

I am unable to get these thoughts out of my head as we grow ever closer to Satorl Marsh. Now, I need to find out why these face Mechon are the way they are. If we don't, I fear we may meet our end to Metal Face, as Slash almost did once before. However, there is something he is not telling us. Hopefully, he will be willing to tell us about it.

Shulk POV

" _I wonder… Slash told me he could read other people's minds. He even said he looked into Xord's mind before he died. So… Is Slash telling the truth? Are these face Mechon really people trapped inside those metal bodies? If so, then who is Metal Face underneath that armor?"_ Ever since Slash left us for a while, I just couldn't stop thinking about what he said. What would even make something like that possible?

A little bit later, I was taken out of my thoughts when we arrived at Satorl Marsh. Ether particles were coming off the trees, illuminating the environment around us. There was water everywhere, trees scattered across the land, mist everywhere, and incredible wildlife living here. There also seemed to be a kind of strange aura in this place. This was an amazing thing to behold. I could look at this forever.

"I've never seen anywhere like this!" I said.

"Y'see? This is why I've been saying you need to get out of the lab every now and then." Dickson told me. I suppose he's right. He turned to face the others. "We're aiming to get inside the Bionis. We can get to the upper regions from there."

"Wow. I've never thought about going inside the Bionis." Sharla said. I have to admit, neither did I.

"The closer we get to the top, the more monster trouble we're gonna run into. The only things that venture this far in are the Nopon merchants and curious types like me." Dickson said.

"You really know all the fun spots, eh, Dickson?" Dunban asked.

"You wanna get to the top? Then this is the only way." Dickson said.

"We'll push on. No matter what." I said.

"That's the spirit, Shulk." Dickson told me.

We started walking yet again. We stayed along the dirt path. The further we went, the thicker the mist seemed to get. In some places, the mist seemed to have gone completely before we walked into some more. It made it a bit more difficult to see, especially in some areas. We didn't really run into trouble, but we heard some monsters growling in the distance. However, we found some dead animals on the ground along the way. They were cut into pieces.

"Whoa!" Reyn saw one of them. "What happened here?"

"I'm going to take a guess and say Slash may have caused this." Dunban said.

"Maybe." I said. "Or something else may have done this."

"Who else could've done it, Shulk? It makes sense to me. Remember when we went off to save Juju? It was the same deal with those Mechon." Reyn told me.

"Yeah. Destroyed and pieces of what remains scattered." I said.

"Seems like he ain't the kind of guy to show mercy." Dickson said.

"What do you mean?" Sharla asked him.

"You see his work here. It seems as if they didn't stand a chance, but he killed them anyway. Not only that, but he didn't take anything from it. Normally, a Feris has some pretty tasty meat on it, but he didn't get anything for himself. He just left it here." Dickson told us. I've heard about Feris. They can be extremely vicious to anything that enters its territory.

"Hmm. I suppose so." Dunban said.

"Oh man. I really gotta work on my apology now." Reyn said. I laughed a little.

"Yes, you do, Reyn. Hopefully, he can forgive you." Sharla said, teasing him a little.

"Sharla!" Reyn said. He didn't like that a lot. I laughed again.

"OK. Let's get moving." I said. We started walking yet again. Like last time, we stayed on the dirt path. We saw more dead creatures on the ground as we kept moving.

" _Dickson might be right. Slash does seem to be brutal towards his opponents. All these Feris and other creatures ended up the same way. It really is just like the Mechon we found on our way to find Slash after Juju told us he was in danger. But now that I think about it… Is he really in any danger?"_ I was taken out of my thoughts again.

"Everyone, look." Sharla said. She pointed over to a campsite. "It's a group of Nopon."

"Ah. Some Nopon merchants." Dickson said.

"What d'ya think they're up to?" Reyn asked.

"They must be here for a reason." Sharla said.

"Maybe they've seen Slash pass through. We should ask them." I said.

"Good idea." Sharla said. "I was about to say the same thing."

We walked over to the Nopon merchants. They seemed to be doing just fine here. They weren't in any danger at all. That's good. They have a couple of ether lamps around their camp. Maybe that keeps the monsters away from them. Makes me wish we had a couple.

"Excuse us." I said, getting their attention.

"Ah, Hom Hom here. What Hom Hom want?" One of the Nopon asked us.

"We were wondering if you saw a friend of ours pass through here earlier." I told him.

"Who Hom Hom looking for?" He asked.

"Um… He's tall, has a sword, strange colored hair, pointed ears, a scarf, and 2 scars. One on his throat, and the other across his face. Have you seem him?" I asked.

"Ah yes. Strange bird man pass through here. Or was strange man Hom Hom? Hard to tell. Strange man went down path. Follow path, and you see your friend again." The Nopon told us.

"OK. Thanks." I said.

"My pleasure. My pleasure." He said, hopping up and down. After that, we were on our way again.

It seemed as if we were walking in circles. It was the same everywhere we went. Trees, water, rocks, wildlife, and dead wildlife on the ground occasionally. I was started to wonder if we were lost. But I don't see how we could be. We stayed along the path the entire time. Something caught my attention. I saw a trail of blood on the path. I could tell something, or someone, was being dragged. The trail led off of the path. I started to get worried about Slash. We eventually saw a large ether lamp up ahead. There was smoke coming from a small fire next to it. I looked a little closer, and I saw Slash. Everyone else saw this, and we all started running over.

Slash POV

At the moment, I'm just sitting here next to the fire I made cooking some Feris meat. I had to admit, I was getting hungry, and could eat almost anything at this point. I was also next to a huge lamp with a weird glow around it. Whatever it is, it keeps the other monsters away from me, so I'm happy. I can't help but feel like I've been here before though. I might have been. If I was at Gaur Plain, I may have come here once before then.

"Hey." I heard someone shout. I looked over and saw Shulk and the others. I smiled, but didn't move. I didn't want to burn my food.

"Shulk. Reyn. Sharla. Everyone. It's good to see you. I was starting to get bored without you guys around." I told them. We all got a little laugh out of that. "What took you so long?"

"We took your advice, and headed back to the camp first. Nothing happened while we were away, and we restocked our supplies before we left." Shulk told me.

"Ah. Smart. I'm glad everything worked out there." I turned my attention back to the meat I was cooking. Having it held up over the fire with a stick kinda forces me to pay attention to it, especially since the stick is in my hand. "You guys want some? I've got plenty to give to you all." I pointed over to a dead creature behind me.

"A Feris?" Dunban asked. So that's what it's called.

"Yeah. Had to get something out of it, considering they wouldn't stop bothering me. So I decided to get a meal out of it, but this is a little too much for me." I told them.

"How considerate of you." Dunban said.

"Just trying to be nice." I said. I looked real close at my meal, and decided that it was good enough. I took it away from the fire, off the stick, threw the stick in the fire, and took my first bite. It was perfect.

"Is it any good?" Shulk asked me. I had to swallow before answering.

"Very good. You want me to make you some?" Everyone nodded. They wanted something to eat. I don't blame them. To get this far in Satorl Marsh takes a couple hours without something slowing you down. And that's when you first enter this place. These guys came all the way from the refugee camp. I was about to get up, and start cutting their portions, until Reyn walked up to me.

"Hey." He said.

"Hello." I said back.

"Listen um… I'm sorry about what I said back there. I didn't really mean to go that far. I overreacted."

"That's not what got me upset, Reyn. I wasn't expecting you to believe me about that anyway." That caught him by surprise.

"What?! But why did you-" I cut him off.

"It's what you were thinking that got the better of me." Now they were all confused, with the exception of Shulk.

"Oi! What're you talking about?"

"Whatever happened to make me like this, I don't know, but I have the ability to read minds." Everyone was shocked. Again, Shulk already knew all this.

"You're telling me you can read our minds? Pull-" I cut him off again

"The other one. I know it seems crazy, and you all think I'm losing my mind right now, except for Shulk, who's thinking it was about time I told you all about this. But I can tell you that I am telling the truth. If you don't believe me, I have a way to prove it to you." That even surprised Shulk.

"What d'ya mean? How are you gonna prove it?" Dickson said.

"How about a sparring match?" I said. Everyone started looking at each other. They were all very nervous, because they saw what I did and they knew it was me who did it.

"You sure about that?" Reyn asked me.

"Your fear is understandable, but there is no need for it. I won't hurt you. Maybe a couple of bruises at most, but nothing more." I answered. "So, who's up?" I backed away from the fire and drew my sword. Reyn stepped up.

"Might as well. Got nothing better to do." He said. He grabbed his weapon and readied himself.

"Before we start, what is that weapon called?" I asked him.

"This right here is my scrap driver. Shulk made it for me a while back." He said.

"Interesting. Let's see how long you last using that." I said, feeling confident.

Reyn tried to rush me. I side-stepped, and he nearly fell over. He regained his footing and tried again. He tried to stab me, but I side-stepped again. This time, I tripped him. He fell flat on his face. He got back up, and ran at me again. He was getting angry. He started throwing punches and kicks at random. I dodged them all. He used the shield on his scrap driver, and tried to bash me with it. I put my foot and it, and used his strength to get some distance between us. I ran at him with my sword in hand. He put his shield up, but I saw this coming. I split my sword into dual blades. The one in my right hand collided with his shield. I pushed him back a little. I used the one in my left hand, and went over his shield, straight for his head. Everyone screamed when I did this, but I stopped right in front of him. The tip just a centimeter away, right between the eyes. I backed off then.

"Now do you believe me?" I asked.

"Not yet." Dunban said.

"Really?"

"Not until I spar with you. Are you alright with this?"

"Of course. I could always use a little practice." Now I have to spar against Dunban. Reyn backed away and sat down near the others. Dunban drew his katana and pointed it at me. Since he can't use his right arm, he is wielding the sword in his left. I could tell this was going to be interesting. Another match is about to begin, and I can tell this will be harder than beating Reyn. Dunban has far more experience and skill in a fight, while Reyn is just strength.

Dunban ran at me. He was much faster than Reyn. He swung, and I dodged, but he wasn't letting me get away. Almost immediately, he planted his feet and unleashed a barrage of attacks. I couldn't keep dodging, so I switched my dual swords into a backhanded position and started to fight back. We refused to giver each other any ground. Our swords kept clashing, neither of us getting the upper hand, but I knew everything he was going to do before he did it. I was blocking almost effortlessly. Finally, Dunban and I clashed with everything we had. We were pushing against each other. A few tiny sparks came off our blades. We backed off for a moment, and ran at each other one last time. Dunban raised his katana over his head, while I put both of my blades next to each other with the daggers facing one another towards the center of my body. Our swords clashed as we ran past each other.

We stayed in our position for a minute, back to back. I knew I had won. I looked at myself, and didn't see a single scratch or cut anywhere.

"You lose, Dunban." I said. I sheathed my sword once I had pieced it back into one. I looked at Dunban, and he sheathed his blade as well. He turned to face me. I saw I had him beat. I didn't cut him, but there was a slice in his vest, right across the heart.

"Well done. I believe you." He said. He extended his left hand to me. I took it in my own, and we shook hands there. We had each others respect as warriors. I smiled at him, and he at me. We looked over to the other, and saw they were dumbfounded,. Their eyes were wide open, as were their mouths. Dickson was the only one who didn't look like it, but he was surprised to see that show we just put on.

"Amazing." Sharla said.

"Wow. He beat Dunban." Reyn said.

"Yeah. I saw." Shulk said.

"That was quite a show, you 2. I think you're getting rusty, beast." Dickson said.

"Like you could do better?" Dunban said with a laugh in his voice.

"Maybe later, but right now, we should get some rest. The lamp'll keep the monsters away. We'll be safe if we rest here."

"That's why I was sitting here cooking up some good Feris meat." I said. We all got another small laugh out of that one. "By the way, what is it with this lamp? The glow it has is very strange, but familiar to me."

"It's a remnant of the High Entia." Dickson said. "They've hidden themselves away in the upper reaches now, but at one time they controlled this whole area."

"Good for them." Reyn said.

"I wonder…" I said, thinking out loud. I walked up to the lamp and just stared at it for a minute. I then jumped and held onto it. I started climbing up the lamp.

"Oi! What're you doing, Slash?" Reyn asked, surprised at me once again. But I didn't pay attention to him, or anyone at the time. Once I reached the top, I hooked my left leg around one of the three pieces that holds the light in place. I held onto it, and wrapped my right leg around it then. I took my hands and let go. I was hanging there now. Everything was upside down now, but this new perspective was something to me. My head started hurting again.

I saw myself hanging here with my arms crossed, and my eyes closed. I heard another voice. It was a girls voice just like last time. 'Hey. How much longer are you going to hang there? Please come down.' That was what she said. This voice was different. It wasn't the same girl as last time. I opened my eyes, uncrossed my arms, and jumped down. I landed on my feet almost perfectly. I saw her then. Black clothing that hugged her figure, bigger wings than mine were, a bit taller than the other girl, and the same age as me if not slightly younger. 'Shall we get back to training?' She asked me. 'Of course.' I answered her. I noticed then I had dual blades strapped to my hips. My blades were simple rapiers, while her blades were of a unique design. The blade itself was as short as a dagger, but looked like it had 3 thorns on each side. The handle was parallel with the blade, and there was no pommel. We began our match. We were only practicing basics at first, until it went to a completely aggressive match with both of us giving it our all.

When the match was over, we both dropped to the ground, lying on our backs. The match ended in a draw. We were both exhausted. We let our swords drop out of our hands, and just laid there for a while. Next thing I knew, the girl rolled over and got on top of me. She was smiling. 'Hey.' She said. I said 'hey' back. She continued on. 'Can you believe how skilled we have become since we began our training?' When did we started. I answered soon after. 'You mean after we were born? Yes I can believe it. We've been working hard ever since the very first day, and we continue to do so today.' Since I was born? 'And even after all of that, our matches still end in draws. Do you think one of us will defeat the other one day?' She asked. 'Maybe. We'll have to wait and see.' I told her. We started at each other for a while. She started to lean closer to me. She closed her eyes, and her lips were parted slightly. I did the same. We met in the middle and kissed each other. It all started to fade away then.

I was back with the others. They were telling me to get down, but their voices were barely audible to me at this point. Now I have even more questions running through my mind.

" _Who was that girl?! She wasn't the same girl as last time. And I've been fighting like this ever since I was born? How is this even possible? What else has happened in my past with these girls that I don't know about now?! Who was my trainer? How close were we back then? Does she even remember me now? Wait. Why do I even care?!"_ Finally, Reyn's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Oi! Slash! You trying to make your head pop? Get down from there!" He said. I jumped down just like I did back then. I landed on my feet almost perfectly once again. Dunban was impressed, Dickson didn't really seem to care, and the others were shocked. I don't blame them.

"Well… You're just full of surprises, Slash." Dunban told me.

"Apparently so, Dunban. I'm still surprising myself, but I just remembered something." I said.

"Really?" Shulk asked.

"What d'ya see?" Reyn asked. I explained to them what I saw. Dickson was eying me suspiciously the whole time. I noticed this as I was telling the others. Why was he looking at me like that? When I finished, everyone was just staring at me, emotionless. I guess they were shocked that I remembered something, what it was I remembered, or a little of both. I was betting on the last one.

"So you regained another memory, Slash. I must say, you certainly had an interesting lifestyle before you met us. That would also your level of skill with a sword. With your ability to read minds and your skill, it's no wonder you beat us so easily." Dunban said.

"I wasn't really giving it my all in either match. I just wanted to see what you guys were capable of." I told them.

"Even against Dunban?" Shulk asked.

"Yes, Shulk. Even against Dunban. But don't forget, it was because I could see his attacks coming that it ended the way it did. Most of the monsters I fight are pretty mindless, and the Mechon are just predictable. Against those monsters, all I can see in their minds are primal urges, such as hunger, or territorial defense. They don't think at all when they fight." I explained to him. "The only chance you stand against me is to fight without even thinking about it. And even then, there's no guarantee that you'll win."

"Interesting." Dickson said.

"Huh?" I said.

"It would seem that you're not just a High Entia anymore."

"What're you saying?" Where is this going?

"It would seem that what you are now is part High Entia, part Telethia. After all, Telethia have the ability to read minds like you do." Dickson explained to me. I was shocked. I'm part Telethia now?

" _What? How can that be? Is that why I look the way I do? What else don't I know about myself? I don't remember much of anything about my past. Now, I'm not sure I even know my own body anymore. How much has changed since the day those Mechon took me away?"_ I couldn't really wrap my head around this one. Those questions kept repeating themselves in my mind, until something else came up. _"Wait a minute. How does Dickson even know that? He didn't say he heard it from some rumor or anything. He knows about Telethia and their abilities. Just what isn't he telling us? What has he been through?"_

While I was lost in my thoughts, everyone decided to get some rest before we headed out again. I just hope I can piece this puzzle together. It seems to be very complicated, but the end result might be worth it. It may take a while though, but I can wait. I'll be patient. In time, I'll have the answers to all my questions. I know it.

Shulk POV

2 hours have passed since Slash and Dunban sparred. We were all getting some well deserved sleep. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't forget the day I lost Fiora. The same day we were together at Outlook Park. It started out so peaceful as well. Fiora wished every day would be like that. She was sweet, kind, and just perfect to me. It took Metal Face killing her, and Slash's advice to make me realize how I feel. I was in love with her. There was nothing about her that I didn't like. Now she's gone. But I'm still here. I know she gave her life to save me, Reyn, and Dunban, but I miss her. More than anything. I feel incomplete without her around.

I also couldn't stop thinking about the last vision I had. The Monado cut through Metal Face's armor as if it was nothing. That other faced Mechon was also there. I've never seen that Mechon before. It was different from the rest. I didn't see us fighting that one. But it was still there nonetheless. Why?

"Has it been that long?" Someone asked me. I looked over, and saw that it was Dickson who said that.

"Dickson." I said.

"14 years since I found you on that mountain. Seems like yesterday." That was all he said at the moment. It was fairly obvious he was remembering that day.

"I owe it all to you. If you hadn't found me that day, I wouldn't be here now, discovering the world." I told him.

"Forgive me, Shulk. Sorry I couldn't save your folks."

"Don't be."

"Now I think about it, that was when I found the Monado as well. This might be crazy talk, but maybe you and the Monado are part of some higher plan."

"I don't remember much at all. But I know that my mum and dad left me it. The Monado was their final gift to me. At least, that's how I used to think of it. That's why I want to discover its true power and help defeat the Mechon. But so far I've just been creating piles of Mechon scrap."

"So you don't just want to study it in a lab after all."

"This sword… There must be some way…"

Dickson went back to sleep after that. It helped get my mind off of Fiora for now. But now I can't stop thinking about the power the Monado still might have hidden inside of it. I tried to get some sleep again, but still couldn't. I looked up to see Slash hanging upside down again. His eyes were closed, so I assumed he was sleeping. I chuckled at that. I don't really see how anyone could sleep like that. I looked over at the fire he made. Looks like it went out a while ago. I pulled my flask out of the pocket in my jacket and drank some of the water inside. I put it back, and just sat there, seeing as I couldn't sleep anyway.

Hours had passed by. Everyone was awake now, and waiting for me by the path. Hopefully I didn't keep them waiting too long.

"Finally decided to join us, Shulk?" Dickson asked me.

"Sorry, guys. Didn't sleep a wink." I answered him.

"That's completely understandable. It seems you had a lot on your mind, Shulk." Slash said.

"How do you know, Slash?" I asked him.

"You forget, Shulk. I can read minds, remember?" He told me.

"I didn't forget. I just thought you were sleeping."

"I tried to go dream diving."

"Dream diving?"

"Dreams are what your mind and subconscious create when you are asleep. I know that dreams are the gateway into the subconscious. If you can see or remember those, you get a peak at your deepest desires, secrets, memories, or overall, things that make you who you are and define your personality. I remember it worked, but I can't remember what I saw."

"Oh. I think I understand. You want to learn more about us?"

"Wow. You just read my mind. You sure you're not part Telethia?" We both chuckled a little at that. Wasn't the best joke, but it still had some slight humor.

"Right then. Time to move on. How far now?" Dunban asked Dickson.

"We'll be there soon enough. The High Entia ruins are just ahead." He answered.

"High Entia ruins, eh? You might regain another memory when we get there, Slash." Dunban said. He might be on to something there.

"Yeah. Maybe. I certainly hope so. If I made it this far, I must have been there at some point." Slash said.

"OK. Let's get going everybody." I said. The sooner I get that power, the sooner I can make Metal Face pay for what he did to Fiora.

We started walking along the path. Dickson took the lead, while Slash stayed directly behind. Dunban stayed close to them, while I stayed with Reyn and Sharla. To pass the time, we talked about our past experiences. There wasn't a lot of interesting topics, but I listened regardless. Slash, Dunban, and Dickson were all talking to each other as well. I know Dunban and Dickson had some interesting stories for Slash to hear. It seemed Slash was genuinely enjoying himself right now. When I saw him smile though, I could've sworn I saw fangs. I walked up to them.

"Hey, Slash." I said.

"Yeah, Shulk?" he asked.

"Could you open your mouth for a second? I want to see something."

"Um… OK." He opened his mouth for me.

"Just as I thought."

"What?"

"You don't have canine teeth. You have fangs instead."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You never noticed before?"

"No. It just didn't seem important at the moment."

"I understand. With all that we've been through, a few teeth are nothing compared to Mechon."

"Very true. But thanks for letting me know. I don't think I would have ever noticed that on my own."

"Sure."

"By the way… Why are you showing some slight interest in my all if a sudden?"

"Well… Dickson said you were part Telethia. I'm just curious as to what else is different about you. And I have to wonder… What kind of technology even makes something like this possible?"

"I agree with Shulk." Dunban said. "You certainly are a curious one, Slash. Not just physically, but mentally as well. We're all a bit eager to learn more about you and what surprises you have in store for us."

"I see. Well, ask me whatever want then, but I won't have much to tell just so you know." That was all Slash said for now.

"OK." I said. I walked back to Reyn and Sharla.

Everyone went back to their conversations as if nothing happened. Strangely enough, we didn't run into any monster trouble. Maybe it's because we stayed on the path. I'll never know, but I do know that everything went along faster. Eventually, the path came to an end. Now we were standing in front of some water.

"Hope you're all ready to get your shoes wet. This way." Dickson said. He started walking through the water. It seemed to be waist deep. Everyone started walking in. We were moving a little slower now, but we were almost there. I could see them now. It was still a bit of a walk from here, but we were close now. We walked through this large gate and continued walking through the water to the ruins. When we got there, we could finally step out of the water. We walked onto the ruins, but they seemed to be in pretty good condition, considering their ancient.

"The upper regions are through that entrance. You gotta go through Makna Forest first. Prison Island is at the Bionis' head, just above Makna Forest." Dickson told us.

"OK. So lets get going then." Reyn said.

"Hold it, Reyn." Dickson said. "This is the part where I turn back."

"Why is that?" Slash asked.

"The Mechon may be gone from Colony 6 now, but that doesn't mean we've seen the last of 'em. When they launch another attack, and they will, Colony 9's gonna need my help." Dickson explained.

"Yeah. I guess you're really needed at the colony." I said.

"This ain't the last you'll see of me. You should be all right for now. Look after the Monado."

"You can bet on it. We won't let the colony down."

"You'll make us proud, Shulk." Dickson then started walking back. He stopped next to Reyn for a second. "You, on the other hand, need to buck up your ideas! How else are you gonna protect Shulk?"

"Thanks for the heads up, Dickson." Reyn said.

"Good luck. See ya." He walked over to Slash next. "As for you, I hope you get your memories back."

"You and me both, Dickson. Good luck on your way back." Slash said.

"Thanks. Same goes to you. See you later." He walked away after that. Now that Dickson is making his way to the colony, we've got to find a way to get to the entrance.

"So… Any ideas on how we're gonna get up there?" Reyn asked.

"There's a Nopon merchant over there. He might know something. Might as well ask him, right?" Slash said.

"Good idea." I said. We walked up to the Nopon merchant. He started bouncing up and down just like the last Nopon we saw. Slash started talking to the merchant, while I returned to my thoughts. My thoughts about Fiora returned once again. I have a difficult keeping my mind off of her now. Why am I forced to see her in my memories everywhere I go? I don't want to be reminded of what happened back at the colony. It's bad enough I had to watch her die once, but being forced to remember it, and watch it happen several times is just torture. It's not just losing Fiora that gets to me in that memory. It's the fact I wasn't strong enough to protect like I should have. Even with the Monado in my hands, I still couldn't stop Metal Face from killing her. I can still hear her screaming every time I see that memory.

"OK everybody. I know what we have to do." Slash said, taking me out of my thoughts. Thanks you for that Slash. I needed someone to pull me out.

"What did you find out from the merchant?" Dunban asked.

"It would seem we need to perform a ceremony of some kind in order to get to the entrance. However, we need 4 offerings first. Otherwise, we won't get anywhere." Slash explained.

"Well, d'ya know where these offerings are?" Reyn asked.

"Yes I do, thanks to the merchant over there. These offerings, or Radiants as they are known as, are in 4 different locations. It will be difficult to grab so much as one. Each one has a faint glow around it, so you'll know it when you see it. The first one is in Basin Cave, right over there." Slash pointed over to an area to the left of the ruins. "That's the closest one to us. The next one is at a place known as the Alter of Fate, just beyond the cave. The last 2 will prove the most difficult to grab."

"Well, where are they then?" Reyn asked.

"I'm getting there! The 3rd one is in a place called the Dark Swamp. That place is poisonous. The very water there can hurt you. The last one is in Igna Territory. The Igna are huge lizard-like creatures that are as big as we are. To get the last Radiant, we have to fight an entire army of them."

"So how should we go about this?" Dunban asked.

"I believe we should split up. Shulk and Reyn will go after the White Radiant in the cave. Dunban, you will go after the Rainbow Radiant at the Alter of Fate. Sharla, you and I will be going to the Dark Swamp to get the Dull Radiant. If I get sick, you can heal me right away then."

"OK." Sharla said.

"We'll meet up back here later, and then make our way to the Igna Territory together. Sound good to everyone?" Slash asked. Everyone said yes to this. "We should rest up first, so we're at full strength when we get them. This place seems to be safe, so we can rest right here." Everyone agreed with this. We were all a bit tired from walking all this way. I just hope we are ready for this.

Slash POV

I explained the plan to everyone. Once again, I surprised myself. I didn't think I would be able to come up with something like that. I noticed Dunban was walking towards me. I didn't really react to this. I just wanted to get this ceremony out of the way.

"Hey." Dunban said.

"Hey." I said back.

"That was a good plan you came up with. I couldn't have done better myself."

"Thanks. But I didn't think I would even be capable of something like that."

"What makes you say that? You may not have the memories of how you gained such skill or knowledge, but what you gained is still in there. Don't make the mistake that losing your memories makes you dumber than can be."

"Heh. You're right. Thanks for that, Dunban."

"Anytime. I'm always happy to help a friend."

"You consider me a friend?"

"Well, yes. Why wouldn't I? You have proven yourself to be an interesting man. In more ways than one, might I add. I'd like to know more about you, as you would like to learn more about us."

"OK. Heh. You are wise beyond your years, Dunban. I'll admit, you are something else."

"Oh?"

"You just surprise me with your knowledge on tactics, your advice, your skill and experience on the battlefield, and as a person. You are also very interesting in your own right. And not just you, but everyone here as well. They are all so different from each other, as we are. You are all people I would like to get to know better."

"That's very kind of you. Thanks."

"You're welcome." We didn't say anything for a while after that. We simply just enjoyed each others company. Not just Dunban and I, but everyone here. Sharla was doing some maintenance on Gadolt's old rifle. Reyn was giving her a hand, while Shulk was making a few adjustments to Reyn's scrap driver. Dunban used an old piece of cloth to shine his sword, and make sure it stays sharp. I was just laying down on my back, about ready to get some sleep.

After just sitting there for about 15 minutes, I sat up and pulled out my own sword. I split it into dual blades once again. I couldn't help but wonder what makes that possible. This was getting me curious.

" _I wonder… What can I use this for? What kind of techniques can I use with this blade? It gives me room to be a bit inventive and use my imagination a little. What is even made out of anyway? I can cut Mechon without the Monado giving me strength. Matter of fact, I damaged Metal Face when Shulk's Monado just bounced off of him the first few times. But Shulk is getting stronger. The damage he did to Metal Face last time we saw him almost took off his arm. Just how much power does that sword of his have contained?"_ My thoughts shifted back and forth between everyone here, and the weapons they all have.

After a while, I sheathed my sword once again. I lied down and took a nap. That's when my head started to hurt again. I saw myself and many others here training. I was the only male among them. Why that is, I have no idea. We were in the middle of a small tournament to see who was the best. I was winning match after match. The girls I fought only seemed to get better and better as the tournament continued. I made it to the final match, ad there she was. The same girl as last time. But this time, she was wearing a mask. Strangely enough, we were all wearing masks the whole time we were here. Just like last time, our match ended in a draw. I started laughing. 'Not another draw. Are we ever going to settle this?' I said. 'Maybe. But I can wait for that day to come.' The girl said. That was the same girl. I could tell because of her voice. At that moment, it all faded away once again. I opened my eyes, and saw everyone was getting ready.

"How long was I asleep for?" I asked.

"Almost 2 hours." Shulk answered.

"Wow. I guess you lose track of time when your eyes are closed." I said.

"Since when don't you?" Reyn said. I got a small laugh out of that one.

"Yeah. That's a good point, Reyn. I guess you learned from experience?" I asked him.

"A little, yeah."

"That's alright, buddy. Come on. We have some Radiants to collect." And just like that, we were on our way. Hopefully this goes well.

 **(OK everyone. There's chapter 5 for you. This one took a bit longer than I thought it would, but I manged to get it done. I wish I could remember all the cut-scenes and dialogue sometimes, since I just beat the game 4 times now, but whatever. It's not a big deal. I'll see you all again when I have chapter 6 up and running. Please review and send me any notes you have. Don't hold back now. Be brutally honest if you have to. I can take it.)**


	6. Chapter 6

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(I'm back again. This chapter came to me a bit slower than usual, but it was worth it. At least, I hope it was. I'll let you tell me what you think. Moving on to chapter 6 now.)**

Chapter 6

Shulk POV

After we had rested up, we put Slash's plan into motion. Reyn and I Went into the cave. Dunban followed us in, but separated from us. Since the Alter of Fate lies beyond the cave, he kept moving, leaving us to do our part. We got out of the water onto a nearby strip of land. Reyn gave me a hand, seeing as the current was having a stronger effect on my body.

"Cool. Just across that bridge is the Radiant. Seems simple enough." I said.

"Yeah. I think Slash went easy on us today, pal." He said back. I thought he was right, until I looked up.

"Reyn wait!"

"What is it, Shulk?" I pointed up to show him. When he looked, he was shocked to say the least. "Wow! That's a lot of Vangs." I nodded in agreement. There were about 50 Vangs sleeping above us in the cave.

"We better be quiet, or else we'll wake them up." I whispered.

"Good idea." Reyn whispered back to me. We slowly tip-toed our way over to the Radiant, and hoped we wouldn't wake up the Vangs above our heads. I'm surprised we didn't already wake them when we came in. I guess we were just lucky there.

When we got to the Radiant, all I saw was a little rock with that strange glow. This is what we were looking for? Well, if it helps us get to the top, then no complaints from me.

"This must be it." I said.

"That's it? That little rock is what we're looking for?" Reyn asked.

"Well, it has that strange glow that we were looking for, so it must be it."

"OK, Shulk. Let's get this back to the others."

"Yeah. That was too easy." Right when I said that, Reyn kicked a rock into the water. It wasn't the Radiant since I was holding it, but the splash it made was a little loud. We looked up, and saw they were waking up. Not good.

"Did you have to say that out loud, Shulk?"

"Sorry, Reyn." I grabbed the Monado, while Reyn prepared his scrap driver. The Vangs started flying down to us. They were screeching and trying to bite us the entire time. I blocked with the Monado, while Reyn was blocking with the shield on his scrap driver.

"Now what?" Reyn asked.

"Looks like we'll have to fight. I count at least 20. You got my back, Reyn?"

"Always, man."

"OK. Let's try to make this quick. The others are counting on us." The Vangs were surrounding us. I hope we don't take too long, or get hurt too badly.

Dunban POV

After I made it out of the cave, wishing Shulk and Reyn good luck, I started making my way around. I guess Slash forgot to mention that I would be falling down a waterfall on the other side of the cave. I started looking around the area. He said the Alter of Fate should be around here somewhere. I looked to my right, and saw a large rock formation. I also noticed a very faint, but strange glow coming from the top.

"That must be it. Seems easy enough." I said, thinking out loud. I guess we all have a habit of doing that from time to time.

I got to the rock formation, but I didn't see a way to the top right away. I started to wonder if I would have to climb in order to reach the top. I began to circle the rock formation in hopes of finding a way to get to the top without the need to climb. When I found it, I also found 2 Brogs sitting right in front of it. It was a simple, naturally formed spiral to the top. I walked over, hoping the Brogs would not prove to be violent towards me. That hope proved to be wrong. The Brogs noticed me, and started lashing out with their tongues. Since I was a fair distance away at the moment, I managed to dodge them, but it drew the attention of some other hostile creatures.

"I'll have to make this quick. I can't waste too much time here. We need that Radiant in order to reach Makna Forest." I said, thinking out loud once again. I drew my blade and held it in my left hand. I was prepared for this battle, and I will not fail the others.

Slash POV

Dunban, Shulk, and Reyn all decided to go through the cave based on what I told them. Sharla and I decided to backtrack and stay on the path. We made it back to the lamp we rested at before we made it to the ruins, since it wasn't far. This time, we didn't stop. We walked right past it, and kept moving.

"Hey, Slash?" Sharla asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Are you really part Telethia like Dickson said you were?"

"Well, its the only thing that seems to make sense at the moment."

"Why do you say it like… Oh. That's right. You can't remember your past."

"Yeah."

"Is it because of that ability that you asked if I was all right when I woke up back at the camp?"

"That's exactly it. I saw what you were dreaming about."

"Oh."

"That was a horrible nightmare. I can't help but feel I had a hand in creating that. I couldn't protect Juju back there, or even defend myself because of my injury."

"Slash!"

"I feel horrible about it. Every time I think about that, I can't help but feel it was my fault. I feel I deserve the blame for putting you all in that situation."

"Don't talk like that! That doesn't matter anymore! You helped save Juju. You, Reyn, and Shulk all risked your lives to save Juju and put an end to Xord. I wish the others could have made it, but there's nothing I can do about it now."

"Yet, you still have hope that Gadolt, your future husband, is still alive and is out there somewhere."

"Of course. I know Gadolt wouldn't go down without a fight. He would never give up."

"You have more hope than I do. I have doubts that I won't get all my memories back. I feel lucky I got what I have right now."

"Don't say stuff like that! You'll get your memories back. You just need to be patient. They'll come to you."

"I am being patient. I can wait for my memories to return. I'm just saying I might not get all of my memories back. I'm sure I'll still get some memories as this journey continues, but I still have my doubts."

"I understand, but you shouldn't think like that."

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I'm your friend. And not just me, but Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban are also your friends. We all care about you." That definitely got me thinking for a little bit.

"I can hardly see why you would call me a friend when you barely even know me."

"You risked your life to save Juju, protect us from Xord when he came back, and against Metal Face when he tried to kill us all. I'd say that's more than enough."

"Heh. I did only what I thought would be best. If I ever needed to, I would happily give my life to protect you all. I'm willing to do so."

"I hope it doesn't come to that. You are pretty good in a fight."

"I'm not that good, am I?"

"Of course you are. You wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes otherwise."

"Good point." I chuckled a little bit after I said that. I was feeling a bit better now. I'm starting to open up to everyone.

We didn't really say anything to each other after that. I started to look around, hoping we didn't pass by what I was looking for while I was talking to her. It took me a few minutes, but I finally saw it. Another ether lamp, but this one wasn't lit. Sharla and I walked over to it. I was surprised that I didn't have to backtrack to find it. I guess we were walking slower than I thought. I stopped in front of it for a moment. Again, this felt familiar to me. I decided to think on it after we got the Radiant.

"Why are we stopping here?" Sharla asked me.

"This lamp is right next to the Dark Swamp. I you can see it from here." I pointed over to it. Sharla walked up next to me and looked at it. The water was a dark purple-reddish color. The very water itself wasn't just poisonous. It was pure poison. I could smell it from where we were standing, and we weren't even that close to it.

"Wow. That's the Dark Swamp?" Sharla asked in surprise. I don't really blame her for that.

"Yeah. And the Radiant is in there somewhere. It's our job to find this one, and get back to the others."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah. It's not that bad. Long as I avoid any trouble with some monsters."

"OK. Just be careful."

"I will." We walked down there afterwards. I could feel that Sharla was worried about me. I understand that, but at the same time, I wish she wouldn't worry. Not a lot of creatures would even come near this kind of place, and the ones that do don't last long anyway. When we were in front of the water, I took a deep breathe to keep calm and collected. "Lets get this over with." I mumbled.

I stepped in the water, and almost immediately, the water felt like it was burning my skin right off. This is some powerful poison. It was trying to seep its way into my system. Touching it alone felt like torture. And I had to walk through this stuff all the way to the other side of the swamp. What did I get myself into? I kept moving until the water was up to my waist. Now the burning sensation was 10 times worse. I walked through the water to the nearest patch of land. I got out and looked myself over. Nothing really happened other than my clothes getting soaked.

I got back in the water, and made my way to the next patch of land. I got there, but I noticed a Brog there that was twice my size. It's back was facing me right now, so I decided to sneak around it. Unfortunately, the only way to get around it was to get back in the water again, and there was no land to rest on this time. Realizing this, I looked past the Brog for the Radiant. Luck was not on my side today. The Radiant was sitting right in front of it. Why me?

I ran right past the Brog and grabbed the Radiant. That was a stupid move on my part. Now the Brog was looking right at me angrily. I was in its territory now. I put the Radiant in my jacket pocket and drew my sword. I decided not to use the dual blade function it had this time. The Brog swung its tongue at me. I blocked it, but inwardly cursed myself. I tried to cut it off. It swung its tongue again. Same result. I couldn't move because of the water surrounding us. But this Brog could. Again, why me?

The Brog then jumped over my head, and splashed the water all over me. I screamed in pain. It burned like crazy. And as an added bonus, it got in my one good eye as well. Now, I couldn't see anything. Next thing I knew, I felt something hit me square in the chest. I fell on my back, but got up quickly. However, I felt weaker now. I began to cough. I knew what it was then. That Brog poisoned me.

" _I hope you guys are doing better than me right now."_ All I could do now was wait for its next move.

Shulk POV

These Vangs are persistent, and relentless. They are always trying to bite us, or they are always screeching at us. I have to admit, it's giving me a headache. Reyn was still right behind me as we stood back to back. I managed to take out 2 of them, but there are still plenty more to take care of at the moment.

"Reyn, you doing alright back there?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I just wish I could hit these things. They're really starting to bug me!"

"I know what you mean, Reyn." Right when I said that, another Vang came at me. I used the Monado, and managed to cut it in half, but considering how many there were, it didn't make much difference.

"This is taking too long! You got any ideas, Shulk?"

"Sorry, Reyn. But I can't think of anything right now." Once again, another Vangs came straight at me. As it got close, I swung and managed to cut off its right wing. It fell into the water and simply drowned. I looked back at Reyn, and saw he was just stabbing randomly. However, he did manage to kill off a few.

"Yeah! Now we're getting somewhere!"

"OK, Reyn. Let's do this!" We stayed together and just kept fighting, but I was hoping this would end soon. I looked back at Reyn again. I saw he was doing the same thing as before. I looked away from him, only to have 3 Vangs bite down on my left arm. I yelled in pain.

"Shulk!" Reyn turned around and cut them right off without cutting off my arm.

"Thanks, Reyn. Now we're halfway there."

"Come on, man. Lets finish this and get back to the others."

"Got it." The Vangs started screeching again. They were even louder than last time. I had to cover my ears this time. Even then, I could still here them. I couldn't block it out. I noticed Reyn was in the same position as me. All this screeching was making my head hurt badly. Please let this be over soon.

Dunban POV

I charged straight towards the 2 Brogs. I stabbed one directly in the stomach and sliced outwards. The Brog dropped dead then. The second one attempted to lash out with its tongue once again. I used my sword, and cut its tongue off. It retracted what was left. It was distracted with the damage I had done. I took advantage of this moment, and charged at it once again. By the time it noticed me, I had already decapitated it. This Brog also fell to the ground.

I noticed the other creatures that were looking at me. There were a few Quadwings, and a couple of Aqua Nebulas. The Quadwings wouldn't be a problem once I cut off one of their wings. They need all 4 of them in order to fly. However, the Aqua Nebulas would prove to be difficult to take down. Nebulas are far more enduring than any ordinary monster. Slash certainly put me in a difficult position sending me here. I hope he is fairing better than I am.

The Quadwings decided to attack me all at once. They all came down as fast as they could, and tried to knock me off balance. I managed to dodge them, and cut off the wing of one of them. That one tried to stay in the air, but it didn't stay for long before its wings gave out. It dropped right next to me. I took my sword, and put it out of its misery. The others circled back and tried again. I dodged once again, but couldn't do anything this time. I thought at that moment that if I had to get to higher ground, I might have a better vantage point. I started making my way up the spiral as fast as I could. The Nebulas however were not going to let me off the hook so easily. They began to pursue me as I ran. This did not look good.

As I was making my way up the spiral, the Quadwings were once again trying to knock me off balance. As they kept coming, I managed to cut off the wings of 2 others. The spiral itself limited their options a bit. Now there was only 1 Quadwing left, but the Nebulas were still close by.

I finally reached the top, and saw the Radiant sitting on some sort of alter. I suppose this is why it's called the Alter of Fate. I ran up to it, and noticed the strange glow it had. It had all the colors of a rainbow for some reason. I decided not to think on it, and continue the fight.

"Heh. You put me in quite the position here, Slash. Perhaps next time, I shall choose what job you deserve." I said, thinking out loud once again. "Now, let's even the odds a little bit."

Slash POV

This is just perfect. I have the Radiant, but now, I've been blinded and poisoned as well. I've never fought blind before. I don't know what to do. I am panicking right now, but just not showing it. At least, I don't think I am. In my current situation, all I can really do is wait for the Brog's next move. All I can smell is the water around me. All I can hear is my pounding heart, threatening to burst out of my chest. All I could feel is the Radiant in my jacket pocket, and my sword in my right hand. It seems hopeless right now.

Sharla POV

Watching Slash fight that Brog right now worries me. I saw what happened to him. He's losing this fight, and he's only getting weaker with each passing second. I want to help him, but if I get in that water, I might end up in the same boat as him. But I do have a rifle strapped on my back. I took it in my hands, and aimed for the Brog's head. If I don't do something, Slash might not make it out of this one alive. I can't let that happen.

Slash POV

I was waiting for the Brogs next move, knowing I had already lost, I felt something slimy wrap around my waist, and then I started to feel like a rag doll being tossed around. I was being slammed into the ground, into a nearby tree I think it was, into the water, and tossed in the air before it caught me again. I was at its mercy now, but it wasn't trying to kill me. I could tell. It was playing with me as death made its way to claim me. But I consider myself lucky right now, because I never lost my grip on either of the items in my hands.

I was tossed in the air for the 3rd time when I heard a gunshot. I hit the ground hard. Where did that even come from? Did it kill the Brog? What happened?

Sharla POV

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can guess it. I killed the Brog while it was playing with Slash. I felt relieved that the fight was over, but I've never felt more worried for my friend. Ignoring the poisonous water, I ran through it to get to Slash. When I got there, he was laying on the ground, barely breathing. He had the Radiant in his pocket. I grabbed him, threw his arm over my shoulder, and carried him through the water back to the lamp. I laid him against the lamp, and looked through my supply of bullets.

"Oh no." I couldn't believe it. I was out of ether bullets. "How can I be out of ether bullets?!" I couldn't think straight now. I didn't really know what to do. I know I'm the medic, but if I'm out of ether bullets, how can I heal Slash, and cure him of his poison? He's sitting on the edge of life as it is. Since I couldn't think of anything at the moment, I threw Slash's arm over my shoulder again, and started carrying him back to the ruins.

Hopefully I can think of something by the time I get there.

Shulk POV

These Vangs didn't stop screeching for a while. Reyn and I had to cover our ears almost the entire time. Every so often, we had to block a few Vangs attempting to attack us, but we barely managed to keep them back. When they finally stopped, I never felt so relieved, but that was also the moment they attacked us with everything they had left. They kept trying to bite us, scratch us, and overall, just trying to hurt us. They were relentless, and they managed to scratch me quite a few times. They were only minor, and they were mostly on my arms, but it was very annoying to deal with these things.

"Hey, Shulk. You doing alright back there?" Reyn asked me.

"Yeah. Just a few scratches. How about you?" I asked.

"Same here. Man, how much longer do we have to fight these things?"

"Not much longer. I've got an idea."

"Yeah? What d'ya have in mind, Shulk?"

"Don't worry. Leave it to me." I knew what needed to be done now. These Vangs were very aggressive, but that would prove to be their undoing. I moved away from Reyn to give myself a little space.

"Shulk! What're ya doing?" After he asked that, the Monado's color changed from a light blue to yellow.

"Monado Shield." I said as I used it. I spun around for a quick second and surrounded Reyn and I with the Monado's energy. Now with the new shields surrounding us, the Vangs tried to attack again, but they only bounced off every time they tried. Not only that, but they also needed a second to recuperate after the attack.

"Yeah! Nice one, Shulk!"

"Thanks, Reyn. Now let's do this!" The Vangs continued their assault, but failed. Once they had attacked, I knew they needed that second. With this in mind, I took advantage of it, and cut them down as soon as they touched the shield. Reyn had the same idea, since I saw him stabbing them as they attacked him. After a few minutes had passed, the Vangs were finally dead.

"That was a good idea, Shulk. Wish I could've thought of something like that."

"Maybe next time, Reyn. Think we should check up on Dunban? He's not far from us."

"Might as well. He might not even be there, but we won't know 'till we get there."

"Yeah. All right. Let's go." Reyn and I jumped back in the water with the Radiant in hand. Once we reached the waterfall, we let ourselves fall down. We landed in a deeper pool of water. When we got out, I heard some grunting. I looked over, and I saw Dunban fighting a Quadwing and some Aqua Nebulas.

"Shulk, you seeing this?"

"Yeah, Reyn. Lets go help him!"

"Got it!" Reyn and I started running over there. I knew Dunban would be able to hold his own, but the sooner we get this done, the better.

Dunban POV

I was standing at the top of the Alter of Fate, right next to the Radiant, but I couldn't grab it at the moment, seeing as how my hand is full. The Quadwing I am currently fighting came down, and tried to knock me off balance once again. This time, I didn't move, and simply waited for it to get close. Once it was right in front of me, I trust my blade into its head, driving it deep into its skull. Using its momentum, I vaulted it over my body, and threw it on the ground. And the last Quadwing I had to face is now dead.

"That's better, but there's still another matter to attend to." I thought out loud again, referring to the Aqua Nebulas close by. They hovered in front of me, some distance away at the moment. They were merely floating there at the moment, not doing anything. What are they planning?

Since Nebulas are mostly made of some sort of gaseous ether, the only part I can attack effectively is its core. But for whatever reason, they weren't doing anything. I decided to make the first move, and charged straight at them. As soon as I got close, I kicked one right in its core, and cut the other in the same place, but it didn't seem to do much. Now, they began to use their gaseous forms to attack me, by manipulating said forms and swinging at me as if they had limbs. I dodged, but they continued to pressure me by continuing their assault. They refused to let up.

Right as one was about to strike me, I saw something cut its core in half. It was the Monado. As the Nebula fell, it slowly dispersed into the air, leaving nothing behind.

"Shulk? Reyn? What are you 2 doing here?" I asked them.

"We couldn't let you have all the fun, Dunban." Reyn told me. I figured he would say that.

"The sooner we end this battle, the sooner we can reach Makna Forest. That's why we're here." Shulk explained to me. It felt good to have them support me like this.

"All right. Then lets finish off this Aqua Nebula as soon as we can." I said. Reyn and Shulk nodded in confirmation as a response. Shulk charged directly at it, with Reyn and I following close behind. Shulk slowed down at the last second, and the Nebula's attack missed by just an inch. Shulk took advantage of this, and sliced at its core. It didn't cut all the way through, but served to weaken it. Reyn followed up, and bashed it with his shield, confusing it. I then jumped as high as I could, and came down with a vertical slice down the center of its core, cutting it in 2. It fell, and met the same fate as the other one.

"Wow. That was a pretty sweet move there, Dunban." Reyn said to me. I looked over at Shulk, and saw he was grabbing the Radiant.

"OK. That's 2 now. We're halfway there, guys." Shulk said.

"Indeed, and Slash should be returning with Sharla holding the 3rd Radiant in hand. It would appear that Slash's plan is working quite well." I said.

"Yeah, but we should be getting back to the ruins right now. They may already be waiting for us."

"I understand. Then, let us not waste anymore time." We all started walking together towards the ruins. We decided that it would be best to stay on the path. As we were walking, I noticed someone was just ahead of us, but something did not seem right about it.

"Hey, guys. You think that's Slash and Sharla there?" Reyn asked.

"Maybe. Lets have a look." Shulk said. I didn't argue, and followed them. It certainly was Slash and Sharla, but Slash didn't look quite well at the moment. As a matter of fact, I don't even think he may have been awake at the moment. Shulk and Reyn also noticed this, as we all started running towards them.

Sharla POV

Of all the times for me to run out of ether bullets, it had to be today. Slash had been poisoned in that fight, and he was only getting worse with each passing second. Now, I'm forced to walk back along the path to the ruins with Slash in tow until I can cure him. He was lighter than I thought he would be, but that doesn't make him light as a feather. Thanks the Bionis I can actually carry him around.

"Hey! Sharla!" I heard Reyn's voice close by. I turned around, and I saw Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban running towards me.

"Everyone!" I said. "You're all OK."

"Of course we are. Not like we're gonna go down that easily." Reyn said, full of pride.

"Moving on. What happened to Slash? Since you're being forced to carry him, something must have happened." Dunban said. I sighed.

"I'm afraid so. Slash here had been poisoned back at the Dark Swamp." I told them.

"Well, can't you heal him with an ether bullet?" Shulk asked me.

"I would have already done it if I could, but I've run out of ether bullets. Not to mention that Slash is only getting worse." I said to them, and in turn reminded myself. I started to panic. If I can't heal him, then what's going to happened? Is he going to die?

"Then we better get back to the ether lamp. We can rest there for now. Afterwards, we can start trying to find a cure for Slash before it's too late." Shulk said.

"OK." That was all I said. Shulk and Reyn took Slash, and started carrying him back to the lamp. It was close by, so we only had to walk for a few minutes. When we got there, Shulk and Reyn set him down. His body was leaning against the lamp.

"How bad is it?" Dunban asked, unexpectedly blunt.

"I don't really know right now. Other than poison, I don't know what other injuries he has at the moment." I told them. "But we might as well take a look now." I took off his jacket. That alone was a mistake for me. I saw a bunch of scars on his arms alone, including the one he got from that Mechon back in the mine at Colony 6. His left shoulder was dark red, his left elbow had signs that there were once a few stitches, his right forearm had white marks going all the way around, as if he should have lost his arm, and once the gloves came off, his right hand had more white marks. There were 3 on the palm and on the dorsal of said hand, and they lined up perfectly. This alone made me lose my nerve. I didn't want to see any more, but I had to treat his wounds.

Next, the undershirt came off. His upper body was in similar condition. The scarf came off with it, so I could get a better look at the scar on his next. How was he alive, or even able to speak with this scar? His chest had 3 larger white marks in comparison to the others. They were longer as well. They reached from the top of his right shoulder to the bottom of his ribcage on the left side. There was a white diamond-shaped scar just below his heart. I turned his body, and saw the same mark on the other side. His upper back looked like it had been used for a game of tic-tac-to. How could anyone even think to do something like that to Slash? His lower back had a few X's and other white marks underlining them. His abs had been traced with these scars. I wanted to throw up at this. He wasn't just scarred. His body was used like a canvas.

"I can't look at this anymore!" I said. I got some distance from those scars and looked away. Although his body had quite a unique build to it, I couldn't look at those scars anymore. His body showed muscle like Reyn's, but without any bulk to it. I had to take those thoughts out of my head before I went mad. Now, I'm not so sure he would even want to remember his past.

Dunban POV

I attempted to ignore the scars that marred his body, and assess his wounds, but there was just no avoiding it.

"Other than a few scratches and bruises, he seems to be alright. But with the poison inside of him, it is unclear if he will live to see tomorrow." I finally managed to say.

"Alright? Look at him! He looks like he's been through hell and back! What on Bionis happened to the guy?!" Reyn shouted in disbelief. I knew he was referring to the scars on his body.

"I'm well aware of that, Reyn. I'm trying not to think on it." I told him.

"Sorry. It's just… Look at him."

"No apologies necessary. I don't blame for it, really. From the looks of things, we may have to retrieve the last Radiant without Slash accompanying us." I truly did not wish to say that, but there was no point in holding it in.

"Dunban, are you sure about this?" Shulk asked me.

"I'm afraid we may not have a choice in the matter. Seeing as how Slash is currently unable to move, let alone fight, I'm sorry to say, but we must retrieve the last Radiant without him."

"But what about the poison in his system?" Sharla asked, clearly worried.

"It'll take more than a little illness to keep him down. All he needs to do is rest for now. Besides, we can find the Igna Territory without him. He did say it was close to the Dark Swamp. Sharla, you'll have to lead us there for now. Afterwards, we can spread out and search for any Ignas that appear to be in formation, or guarding. Once we do that, we'll have to fight our way through to get the Radiant. It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by." I explained to them.

"OK. If we leave Slash here by the lamp to rest, he should be fine." Shulk said.

"Yeah. Good call." Reyn said.

"All right everyone. Let's move!" I told them.

Sharla took the lead and began leading us to the Dark Swamp, where Slash and her acquired the 3rd Radiant. We left the Radiants with Slash, hoping nothing would happen to either of them. It didn't take us long to reach the swamp, but I can see why Slash was in such bad shape now. The water itself was poison. We then split up to s begin our search for the Ignas base of operations, while staying away from the swamp. We had been searching for about an hour, since we didn't know where to look. Eventually, someone did find something.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Reyn shouted. I looked over and saw him waving to us. We all walked over to him to see why he was waving to us.

"What is it, Reyn?" Shulk asked.

"Take a look over there." Reyn told us. He pointed to his right. We looked and noticed 4 to 5 Ignas standing in a straight line. All of which had weapons in their hands.

"Nice work, Reyn." Shulk told him.

"Indeed. I didn't think you would be the first to find it." I said.

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Reyn asked, a little offended.

"Nothing. I just figured either Shulk or I would be the first to find them. Nothing more to it."

"Oh. OK." That satisfied him. "Now let's get that Radiant, and move forward to Makna Forest."

Reyn charged straight towards them, getting their attention. Shulk and I followed from close behind. Sharla stayed behind us with her rifle in hand. However, without her ether bullets, we will need to be more careful of how we fight. Reyn bashed the one in the middle with his shield, sending it sprawling. The other 4 noticed this, and began to run at us. I went to Reyn's left while Shulk went to the right. The Igna swung one of its weapons at me, but I easily dodged and sliced it across its midsection. The Igna fell down in 2 pieces instead of 1. Another Igna tried to do the same, but ended with the same result. Shulk easily cut down the 4th Igna, while Sharla shot the 5th one in the head.

"That was too easy." Shulk said.

"But we mustn't be careless." I said.

"Got it." We moved on and noticed there were not as many Igna here as I thought there would be.

"Huh. You'd think that this place would be crawling with Igna everywhere you look." Reyn said. He was right. There were a few patrols, but that was basically it.

"We could easily slip around the patrols, grab the Radiant, and be on our way if everything goes well." I said.

"Maybe. But look over by the Radiant." Shulk said while pointing. I looked over to where he was pointing. The Radiant was there with a blue glow instead. The Igna that was standing next to it was bigger than the others. Naturally, it would also prove to be stronger, since most animals establish dominance through strength.

"Good point, Shulk. That Igna is standing a bit too close to the Radiant. We could wait for him to move, but that may take a while. Not only that, but if we were to fight him, not only would it be more challenging than the others, but it would also draw the attention of its nearby allies." At this point, there seems to be nothing for it. "I'll get the Radiant. The rest of you, wait here." Before any of them could speak up, I made my move.

I managed to slip past the patrols, but now came the tricky part. I have to grab the Radiant without this larger Igna noticing me. Right when I reached for it, the Igna moved. I immediately ducked down, so as not to be spotted, but when I looked up, it was walking towards one of the patrols. With this, I grabbed the Radiant, and stealthily made my way back to the others without the Ignas noticing me.

"You got it?" Reyn asked me. I showed it to him. "Wow, Dunban. I didn't know you could play it like that."

"You'd be surprised about what you don't know about me, Reyn." I told him. "But now that we have the Radiant, we should get back to Slash. Then, we return to the ruins. Now that we have all 4 Radiants, we should be able to reach Makna Forest."

"OK." Shulk said. We started walking back to the lamp in silence. Hopefully, nothing happened to Slash while we were gone.

Slash POV

I remember the Dark Swamp. I remember fighting that Brog. But after that, everything gets blurry. Most likely because I am well and truly blind at the moment. But in this darkness, I can see another memory. I'm back inside the tank with those 2 people again.

" _How much longer until he is ready?"_ One of them said. It seemed to be a male voice.

" _Please be patient, brother. We have never experimented on a High Entia before. They are not entirely similar to Homs."_ The other one said. This voice was feminine. But the way she spoke sounded like she didn't want to do this.

" _Very well. Do what you can as soon as possible. Once the experiments are complete, we will have a new faced Mechon. One that is capable of reading its opponent's minds. Not even the Monado could defeat him once he is ready."_ Wait. I was supposed to kill Shulk? Is this some crazy dream? Or is it some kind of memory. If it is, then these 2 are responsible for making me what I am? The Male left soon after he said that. As soon as he was gone, the girl stood up and walked over to me. She was about as tall as Reyn, gray armor-like clothing, some weird hat, a couple of white colored bangs on the sides of her face, and long black fingernails that somewhat resembled claws.

" _I'm so sorry to do this to you. I never wanted to my brother to take everything so far. He refuses to end this madness until he destroys the Bionis. I realize he has made everything personal, taking you and all the others away from their friends and family the way he did, but he doesn't care anymore. I have tried to convince him to listen to reason many times, but he refuses to listen to me. And not only that, but I am powerless to oppose him as well."_ Her voice was filled with guilt and sadness. Her feelings towards what was happening were genuine. I could hardly believe it.

Soon after, everything began to fade away, and I was left in the darkness once again. I didn't stay there long though, as I felt something cold on my lower body. Was I still in the Dark Swamp? I managed to open my eye to find Reyn and Shulk had been carrying me. My lower body was being dragged through water, while they were holding me up by my arms, as if my legs were broken. I looked up ever so slightly to see Dunban and Sharla were just ahead of us. We were all going to the ruins. I then let my head drop. Nobody noticed. I was feeling a bit better than before, but I was still weak. Looks as if the poison is beginning to failing now.

"Ugh." That was all that came out of my mouth. Shulk and Reyn looked at me then.

"Slash? Was that you?" Shulk asked me. Everyone stopped to look at me.

"Yeah. It's me. I'm awake now." Everyone just stared for a minute. "Umm… Can we get to the ruins first before the reunion?"

"Sure thing, man." Reyn said. I was carried to the ruins. Once we got there, they set me down, and I just laid there for a minute. "You OK, man?"

"I'll be fine. The poison is already beginning to leave my system. But it has still taken its toll on my body. I won't be able to move on my own for a little while." Sharla walked over to me. I expected her to slap me for trying to grab the Radiant on my own. I was very wrong about that. She got down on her knees right next to me as I began to sit up. Once I was sitting instead of laying down, I waited for the slap that never came. Sharla wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I returned the favor, and wrapped my arms around her waist. "I'm sorry I made you all worry so much about me."

Sharla pulled away a little, but never let go. I saw she was crying a little. Why? I took my hands and cupped her cheeks. I used my thumbs to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

"It's OK. I'm just so glad you're alive. I thought you were going to die, because I ran out of ether bullets. I couldn't heal you like I should have been able to. Some medic I turned out to be. If I can't even hang on to a few bullets, then how can I-" I put my finger to her lips while still cupping her cheek with my left hand.

"You're not the one who should be sorry. I should be, and I am. I made an unbelievably stupid decision, and I made you all pay the price." Sharla then pulled back in. I felt her crying into my left shoulder. I wrapped my left arm around her waist, and stroked her hair with my right. I looked over at Reyn. The others didn't notice, but he was glaring at me, and I knew exactly why. Sharla finally pulled away from me, apparently out of tears. She had, at last, calmed down. "So… What happened while I was out? Did you guys get the Radiants?"

"Indeed." Dunban said. They each pulled out a Radiant they had been keeping in their pockets. They had all 4 of them. Perfect.

"That great news. That Nopon merchant should still be over there. Go ask him what to do with those. I'll be right here, waiting until I can move my body again." They all nodded in confirmation, but I noticed Sharla glanced back at me with a strange look on her face. I couldn't tell what that emotion or feeling was, but it wasn't good. I could tell that much.

They talked with the merchant for a few minutes before walking further away. I managed to stand up and walk closer to get a better look. There was some sort of design in the center of the ruins. In the center of the design was a small hole. I looked at the others fumbling around with the Radiants. What were they trying to do? That question was soon answered as they put the Radiants together. Of course. They were like pieces of a puzzle. I didn't even notice that through their glowing. They then put the newly pieced-together Radiant in the hole. It was a perfect fit. The design then lit up, as the light flowed from the Radiant through the design. Then, from the center, it sent a beam of light directly into the air. What came next surprised me. A strange bird-like creature came down. It was bigger than Reyn, had very sharp talons, it feathers were a mix of green, blue, and yellow. Its body was slim, and its head had a very large beak that extended and took the shape of a horn. Looks like they have to defeat that thing if we want to get to Makna Forest.

The creature began by flapping its wings, creating a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked everyone off their feet. It then charged at Reyn with its talons ready to cut him. Reyn blocked it with his shield, but nearly lost it in the process. Sharla was trying to shoot it down, but couldn't land a single shot in. Dunban and Shulk were chasing after it everywhere it went, but they couldn't catch up to it. The creature then started spinning. The wind it created knocked everyone down, but it made itself a bit dizzy. That was it for me. I'm not sitting on the sidelines anymore. I drew my sword, and switched to dual blades. I waited for it to try and attack someone. That time came soon.

It tried to swoop down on Sharla, but it never made it. Sharla managed to shoot its right wing, throwing it off balance, and towards me a little. In threw my first blade, and it landed in the creature's head, but didn't kill it. I used whatever strength I had to jump as high as I could. By the time it noticed me, I had already impaled its heart with my second blade during my decent. Everyone looked at me with a bit of shock. I grabbed my dual blades, and sheathed them once again before I fell to my knees, completely exhausted.

"Nice work, Slash. I certainly wasn't expecting you to move just yet." Dunban said.

"Just…Doing what…Needed to be…Done." I said while panting.

"Are you OK?" Sharla asked me.

"I just…Overdid it a little…At the end there." I told her. I looked over, and saw we got our path to Makna Forest. "OK, guys. Next up, Makna Forest."

 **(Hey. Sorry that took so long, but school has started up again and it slowed me down a little bit. Please review and send me your notes if you have any. I'll try not to take so long on the next chapter.)**


	7. Chapter 7

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey everyone. I hope you liked the last chapter, but now its time for something a little different this time around. No more waiting this time around. I present to you all chapter 7. If you aren't playing or have not played the game, I'm sorry if you don't understand what's going on here.)**

Chapter 7

Slash POV

Now that the path had been revealed, we could get to Makna Forest. Reyn helped me as we walked up the stairs. Dunban stayed close to my side, while Shulk was in the front, and Sharla in the back. I could feel her emotions. She felt guilty for being unable to help me, and she felt conflicted towards something about me. I'm getting curious as to why this is, but I won't press into it. When we got to the top of the ruins, Shulk walked up to a lift that was just sitting there. He tried to get it to work, but nothing happened. Reyn set me down next to the lift so he could check it out himself.

"The lift don't work.!" Reyn said.

"Like that wasn't already obvious enough?" I said sarcastically. I swear, Reyn's stupidity can really get to me sometimes. Makes me feel like I'm the only smart one in this whole group. I don't intend any offense towards the others.

"Watch it, pal! I could easily beat you right now for saying things like that!"

"With my ability to read minds? Even in the state I'm in, you would still lose to me. Very badly I might add."

"You wanna prove that, scrawny?" He grabbed his scrap driver.

"I would gladly do so, if you were even worth the effort."

"Why you-" I cut him off there.

"If you even try to hurt me, I could always tell Sharla about how you-" Now he cut me off.

"SHUT UP! You knew? You little sneak, I'm gonna-"

"You do anything to me, I spill it. Besides, you're already cross with me for getting a hug of all things. Jealousy is a nasty emotion, isn't it?" That shut him up. His face was completely red as he walked to get some distance from me.

"Hey, Slash." Shulk said. I turned my head to see what he wanted. "Looks like the lift has been broken for a while. We'll have to find another way up."

"Another way? You don't mean climb up there?" Sharla asked.

"We may have to." Dunban said, looking towards the summit.

"Come on, you can't be serious? Why'd someone build a lift that don't work?" Reyn chimed in. Looks like he calmed down. It's like he never talked to me in the first place. Well played, Reyn.

"No complaining! Let's start looking for a place we can climb up." Shulk said.

"Besides, the lift may have been here for a while. Everything here is a remnant of when the High Entia used to live here. For all we know, that may have been centuries ago." I said.

"You do present a good point, Slash. That being the case, I can better understand why the lift doesn't seem to function." Dunban said.

"Besides, there are some vines and such to my right. We can climb up those." I said. The lift was on my left, since I was sitting against a wall.

"All right. Think you're in good enough condition to climb, Slash?" Shulk asked.

"As I said before, it'll take more than a few scratches and a cough or 2 to keep me down. I may not be at my best, but I can move around at least." I explained.

"OK. But if it gets too hard for you, say something." Sharla told me.

"OK. I will." And just like that, we walked to the vines, and started climbing. This time, no one was helping me. That was how I wanted it. I didn't want to be a burden to the group. It took about an hour, but we made it to the top. Once we got there, all we did was just stand there for a minute. Well, they stood while I sat down again, with Sharla kneeling down next to me.

"You OK, Sharla?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She said.

"You should know that's not what I'm asking, Sharla. What is on your mind? I can sense your emotions. What's wrong?" She didn't say anything for a minute. She even looked away from me.

"It's just…When I was looking to see how badly you were injured, I realized how much I didn't want to look."

"What do you mean by that?" Now I was getting confused.

"Have you seen yourself lately? Underneath your clothes are horrible scars that I can't bear to look at." She was starting to cry again.

"I…Never knew. How bad are they?" I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know, but I asked anyway.

"It…It looks like…Your body was used as a canvas." The tears were starting to flow again.

"It makes you think about the people back at Colony 6, doesn't it?" Great. Not only do my actions upset her, but now my very body does as well. She didn't say anything for a while. When she turned her head to look at me, seeing her distressed face like this hurt me.

"How are you even alive right now?" She asked me. That caught me off guard. I couldn't say anything. All I did was look away. I found my voice after a moment of silence.

"If it's really that bad…Then I have to say I have no idea. If my body makes you think about what the Mechon did to your home and to your people, then it would be better for you to stay away from me." That shocked her.

"Why would you say that?!"

"Let's face the facts, Sharla. I don't even know what or who I am right now. To you, I'm just a reminder of the scars your home and your people had to endure at the hands of the Mechon, as they gave me the 2 scars on my eye, and my throat. Friend or not, it would be better to spare yourself the emotional pain by keeping some distance between us."

"I won't do that, Slash! And do you know why?"

"Why is that?"

"Because you're my friend. It would be the same for the others if they shared your situation. We all worry about you, and care about you. Nothing is going to change that." She gave me another hug. For whatever reason, I feel like she shouldn't even be doing this much with me.

"She's right, Slash." I heard Dunban say. "It doesn't matter what you are. What matters is who you are. You are Slash. Don't think of yourself as anything else. Memories or not, your personality told me you are a good person, and that's exactly what you are." Dunban walked over to me, and put his hand on my right shoulder. I looked over at Shulk and Reyn. They only nodded, but I knew what that meant. They agreed with Dunban, and were here to support me.

"OK. You win." We all separated from each other. Shulk then walked up to Dunban.

"What is it, Shulk?" Dunban asked him.

"It's about the Monado. I'd like to ask your permission to use it a little longer." Shulk told him. Where was this going?

"Why ask me?"

"The Monado was your sword. But… I need it to achieve my goal. So…" Dunban chuckled a little bit at this.

"Don't sweat it. You are far more skillful at wielding that thing than I ever was. Keep it. It's yours. Besides, I have a new sword. That old coot had the decency to forge this for me. I owe it to him to make the most of it!"

"Dunban…"

"You've fought your way this far. That is proof enough the Monado has accepted you. Don't take my word for it. Believe in yourself, Shulk."

"Believe in myself?"

"Never lying down, never giving up. That's our pride and strength as Homs. And we have to make sure those metal monsters know it."

"You're right!"

"Time to move, people. This Prison Island Shulk saw in his vision isn't getting any closer." Once everything had been settled, I got back up, and started walking with them. Sharla was staying closer to me now. I felt uncomfortable being this close to her. It makes me feel like I'm making a big mistake.

Now, we are inside the Bionis. Everything is slimy, sticky, and disgusting. Since the Bionis is dead, all of its proper bodily functions are all gone. Not only that, but because of this, it had a creepy feel to it. What parts of the Bionis that were somewhat functional gave off this weird green glow. I didn't want to stay in here long.

"What is this place?" Shulk asked.

"It's giving me the creeps." Reyn said.

"You and me both." I said.

"At a guess, I'd say we're inside the Bionis." Dunban said.

"I knew that much. But I still don't really like this place." I told him. I heard Shulk sigh.

"What is it, Shulk?" Dunban asked him. Looks like I wasn't the only one who heard it.

"Nothing. It's just that…It feels like the Bionis isn't really dead." Shulk said. That just made it all the creepier for me.

"Wait a minute, Shulk. If the Bionis starts moving around, things won't look so good for us! Let's just keep moving." Reyn said.

"Right." Shulk said. We started walking again. Eventually, we came to this big, yellowish pool at the end.

"Now what?" I asked. Right after I said that, the water shot up. It looked like it was a geyser. "OK. That answers that question. But this yellow stuff just looks gross."

"I know what you mean. But we need to get to Makna Forest." Sharla told me.

"Looks like we don't have a choice then." We all jumped in the water once the geyser stopped. We just tread water there until the geyser went off again. When it did, we were all sent high up through the Bionis. We started falling, but we didn't fall far. As soon as we landed, I looked over the edge, and I saw the pool we were just in down below. After that I started walking with the others again. Once we went far enough, I saw a light at the end. There was our way out of here, and into Makna Forest.

3rd Person POV

In Makna Forest, there were 4 High Entia men all clad in armor, with visors similar to a birds beak. All of which had a sword in one hand, and a shield in the other. Among them was a young girl. She had smaller wings than the others, a staff in her hands, and she was wearing a pink and blue dress. They were fighting a large, 3 headed Telethia. It had 2 tails instead of one, strange looking wings, and some sort of glowing yellow accents on the tips of its tails.

The Telethia had flown down, and crushed one of the men underneath its weight. It roared after that, and swatted another one aside with one of its 3 heads. The man lost his grip on his sword, and fell off a cliff. The other 2 that were still alive moved closer to the girl with their swords drawn, and their shields ready.

"Lady Melia! Withdraw to the Nopon village and let us handle this beast!" One of the men said to the girl.

"No, Aizel. Do you really expect me to leave you, run away and save myself?" She asked.

"Permit us this once, Lady Melia. It is our honor and our duty to protect you with our lives. Do not fear for us. Flee!" The same man continued.

"I will not." The girl, known as Melia, said quickly. "I cannot return to the capital with this monster still standing!" She held her ground, as the 2 guards in front of her were determined to protect her. The Telethia stayed on the ground for a moment, only watching them. A minute later, it bowed its 3 heads, and then quickly threw them back up. As it did this, it sent a large wave of energy at the 3 High Entia, utterly stunning them for the time being. The Telethia then charged them. As it drew closer, the energy wave grew stronger. It overpowered the 2 guards, and they were almost instantly disintegrated.

"Aizel! Hogard!" Melia shouted. She managed to use her staff to protect herself from the energy wave, but could not protect herself from the Telethia itself. Once it got close enough, it knocked her off of her feet. Afterwards, it took to the skies and began to circle her, as if she were its prey. Melia slowly got up with support from her staff. As soon as she was on her feet, her staff began to glow a golden light.

"Aizel! Hogard! Garan! Damil! Bestow the light of your life unto me!" Right as she said that, she raised her staff to the air. Energy flowed out in every direction. As the Telethia drew close, it couldn't stop itself as it was caught in the girl's power.

Slash POV

At the moment, I am standing here with the others staring out at the forest in sight. The view from here was magnificent.

"Who turned up the heat?" Reyn asked.

"I've never seen such a dense forest." Sharla said.

"Me neither. How much further?!"

"This must be the back of the Bionis. If Shulk's vision is right, we've still got a long way to go." Dunban said. Reyn and Sharla walked up next to him.

"You mean go on in this heat? I'm sweatier than a Brog's armpit!" Reyn said.

"Already? You haven't even been here 2 minutes, and you're already complaining? Heh. Figures." I said.

"We'll have to search for the best route. Sadly, until we find a way, we'll have to put up with Reyn's stench." Sharla said.

"Sharla!" Reyn shouted, obviously offended. I looked over and saw Shulk deep in thought. I already knew what he was thinking about. He was thinking about his vision. At the moment, it's nothing of my concern. But if we find that girl from Shulk's vision, then I can start asking questions. I looked around a little, and noticed a long rope bridge.

"Hey, guys! Over here! There's a rope bridge leading to the other side." I told them.

"Hey. You're right. It looks Homs-made." Sharla said.

"Not Homs, Nopon. Though a lot of them have settled in our colonies, the Nopon are originally native to Makna Forest." Dunban said.

"Well that explains where all these fur-balls come from." I muttered.

"Do you think they'd know the way to the Bionis' head?" Reyn asked.

"Maybe. But we can't say for certain. However, we also can't just sit here or walk in circles day and night. It would be best if we search for their village. If they do know the way, they might be able to help us with that." I explained. Everyone nodded in agreement, and we started walking again.

We stayed along the path after we walked across the rope bridge. These Nopon certainly did a good job with the bridge. We walked for a few hours, hardly encountering anything. Thank the Bionis for that. I'm still a bit too weak to actually fight right now. The whole time we were walking, I just kept looking around. This entire forest felt so familiar to me. Every tree, vine, leaf, bush, and branch in this forest felt as if I had been here before. And strangely enough, I knew where I was going the entire time. Eventually, we came to a patch of gray grass. That was the only thing that didn't feel familiar to me. I looked a little closer, and saw a girl about as old as me lying down in said grass.

"Wait a second, guys. Look." I said, pointing them to the girl. She looked asleep, but you couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. Noticing this we ran over to her. I got there first, and knelt down next her her. She had a pink and blue dress on, dark purple leggings up to the middle of her thigh, white gloves, a hat going with the dress, silver hair, 2 swirls of hair on the sides of her head, and a staff next to her body. Sharla lifted her up a little, and I got a better look at her face, and what was underneath the hat. She had a pair of little wings on her head. She was a High Entia.

As soon as I saw her face, I remembered the memory I had gotten back in Gaur Plain on the cliff after I defeated that monster. This was the very same girl, unconscious right before me.

"You!" Shulk and I said at the same time. Shulk backed up a step or 2.

"Shulk? What's wrong? Another vision?" Reyn asked.

"Kind of. I'm not sure. But first, she needs help." Shulk said.

"You're right. Let's look for somewhere safe." Reyn said. After he said that, I started to get my hands underneath her knees and her back. I lifted her up, and carried her bridal style.

"There. I see a clearing under a giant tree. We can easily watch for anything approaching." Dunban said.

"Good call. I'll carry her. Can someone grab her staff?" I asked.

"I got it." Reyn said. I looked back at him, and nodded. We then followed Dunban over to the clearing he saw. The whole time I was carrying her, though it wasn't for long, felt natural. Something about this girls felt right. Why is that?

" _Do I have feelings for her? Can't be. She may have been a part of my past, but things have changed since then. But, now that she's here, my heart won't stop racing or pounding. She is very beautiful. No! Stop it! Focus! She needs help first. But she is kind of hard to look away from. STOP IT! You are not a pervert! You shouldn't be thinking like this. Or if anything, not yet! Wait. Not yet?"_ These thoughts of mine are conflicting, and a bit confusing as well.

I set her down in the clearing Dunban pointed out as if she were made of paper-thin glass. Reyn put the staff down next to her. I stayed at her side, and just stared at her. I realize that sounds creepy, but I don't care. I know we met before, but I can't remember enough about her. If only she would wake up, I might get some answers out of her. Sharla took a knee next to me and examined the girl.

"She hasn't sustained any serious injuries, but her condition is far from stable." Sharla said.

"Any idea what's wrong with her?" I asked.

"Her symptoms suggest ether deficiency. It's well known that Homs are strongly affected by ether levels in the environment. But I've never seen symptoms like this before."

"That's because she's not a Homs. She's a High Entia like me, but without the Telethia. That might explain it."

"Even so, a sudden drop in ether content in the surrounding atmosphere causes a reaction. Symptoms range from fatigue to nausea, but in this girl's case…"

"What can we do?" Shulk asked.

"We're going to need water-type ether crystals. I'll load the crystals into a cartridge to shoot from my rifle." Sharla explained.

"You're gonna shoot her?" Reyn asked. Now I'm started to get annoyed, and at the same time, a little angry that he would even think that.

"You imbecile. Don't you remember what she did for me back in Gaur Plain? She's going to shoot the cartridge into the air, and the disbursed ether will heal her." I told him, with annoyance clearly in the tone of my voice.

"That's what I thought." Reyn said.

"Liar!" I quickly called out. "You don't think at all! You're just empty-headed muscle!" I smirked after saying that.

"Why you-" Dunban shut us down.

"That's enough out of you both! We don't need to be making enemies amongst ourselves!"

"Sorry." Reyn and I said simultaneously.

"Anyway, the problem is the crystals. We can't just use any old crystal, they must be as pure as possible. This area must have a water source nearby. We should search there first." Sharla told us.

"I spotted a waterfall a little way back. What do you think, Sharla? Would a waterfall produce pure crystals?" Dunban asked.

"I can't think of a better place."

"Then it's decided. I'll search for the crystals." Shulk said.

"You sure about that, Shulk?" I asked him.

"I'll be OK. I need you to look after the group. We're short on water too, so I'll fill up our flasks."

"Good call. But please stay on the dirt path. The least amount of trouble happens there." Shulk only nodded. We each gave him our flasks, which he put in his jacket. Afterwards he started walking back the way we came. Once he had left, I moved over to rest on the nearest tree, and closed my eyes. I didn't plan on taking a nap. I was hoping to see what the girl was dreaming about. I really hope it works this time.

Shulk POV

After I left the others to rest for a while, I walked all the way back to the bridge we crossed. I walked to the other side, and started looking around again, as I did occasionally. I walked next to a tree next to the edge, and looked down. I saw a waterfall, but I didn't see a way to get down there at first. I looked a little closer, and found my way down. I walked away from the tree, and passed by a small group of Nopon before I began to make my way down.

I passed by a few large bugs, and a few other creatures. Thankfully, none of them were aggressive. I kept walking until I reached a dead end. I looked down, and noticed I wasn't quite halfway there yet. I moved to the edge, and noticed very thick vines and roots tangled in each other, reaching all the way to the bottom. I started climbing down. It didn't take long for me to reach the bottom. I continued walking, until I saw a large deposit of ether crystals. A little to the left was a river with purified water in it. I went to fill all the flasks first. Once they had been filled to the brim, I moved over to the crystal deposit, and started taking off chunks. They didn't come off easily, but eventually they did come off. I everything in my jacket, and was ready to make my way back. As soon as I looked though, I saw someone leaning against a boulder. He had silver hair, a blue long-sleeved shirt with a fur collar, a white undershirt that was exposed, pants that were white on the outside of the leg, and blue towards the inside, and a key hanging around his neck as if it were part of a necklace.

"Who are you?" I asked him. He turned to face me with a small smile on his face.

"Hello there." He said. He just ignored my question.

"Hello." I said hesitantly. He walked over to me, and just looked at me.

"How unusual. It is quite rare to see a Homs in this region." he said. He paused for a minute. I could only watch him, and see what he was doing. "I suppose you are wondering why I am here, in that case. Then permit me to introduce myself. My name is Alvis." He finished with a polite bow.

"Alvis? Um. My name's…" He didn't let me finish.

"It's Shulk. Isn't it?" I gasped slightly.

"How did you know that?" I asked him. He looked away from me.

"Wielder of the Monado. Defender of Colony 9. The hero that has every Mechon running. You're famous amongst all Homs." He told me. I couldn't help but feel like Alvis was familiar to me.

"I know you from somewhere…" I said. I remember the dream I had about someone asking me if I wanted to change the future. Alvis only turned away from me again.

"They're here." he said.

"What?" I asked.

"The Monado emits a particular ether wavelength in it ground state. It must have drawn them." What was he talking about. I looked in the direction where he was looking. I finally saw some creature similar to a Homs come down from above. It had yellow wings on its back, a tail as long as its arm, light green skin, antenna on its head, and stubs for feet. There were 3 others with it. Alvis and I ducked to avoid them as they flew over us.

"What are they?" I asked. They began to circle back. They were very fast. I could barely see them. "Alvis, get out of the way!" I grabbed the Monado and activated it. I then started running towards them. I saw a vision of its attack coming from the left side.

"From the left?" After I saw it, the creature was following the vision exactly. "Then I'll go…" I never finished. The creature surprised me by changing its tactics at the last second. It hit me in the stomach hard. I was sent landing on my back a little ways away. "How?!" I saw a vision. How could that happen? I then saw another vision of another one attacking from above.

"Now from above!" I prepared to block it. Instead, it hit me in my midsection again. I lost my grip on the Monado, and landed on my back next to Alvis. I sat up, and started coughing a little. "It can't be! I saw its movement before it struck. How can it…?" Alvis cut me off again.

"It is a Telethia." He said.

"Telethia?" I asked him.

"They can read your mind. Whether you have a vision or not, if they know your next move, it's all in vain." I stood up and faced him.

"You know about my visions? How could possibly-" He cut me off once again.

"There is only one way. Stop it in its tracks, then dull its perception." Alvis ran, and grabbed the Monado before charging at the Telethia.

"No, Alvis! Stop! You don't know how to-" But before I could finish, the Monado activated, and a new symbol had also appeared as the blade turned green. "A new symbol!" Who is this guy?!

Alvis kept running for a few seconds. He then swung the Monado, and a burst of green energy came out and hit the Telethia. The Telethia stopped in its place. Alvis then jumped, and cut off its antenna. Finally, he slashed across its entire body, cutting it in half. As he landed on the ground, the Telethia began to bleed out ether energy. Eventually, the Telethia's body exploded, unable to control the energy that had been released.

"That was amazing!" That was all I could say.

"I suggest you stop staring." Alvis told me as he threw me the Monado. I caught it, but when I looked up, Alvis was got, only to reappear by my left side. "The sword is yours to wield."

"What was that light?" I asked, referring to the energy the Monado unleashed. Alvis only ignored the question.

"The Monado does not control itself. You control it." Alvis told me. I looked up to see the 3 remaining Telethia still flying high above us.

"I…control it. By the light of the Monado, I will stop them." I said as I gripped the Monado again, and activated it, using the symbol Alvis had just shown me. I prepared for this fight, and now I knew how to beat them.

All 3 of the Telethia charged straight towards me. I knew I had to use the Monado's new symbol if I were to stand a chance. I used its power to to try and stop them, but 2 of them managed to dodge. The 3rd one couldn't get out of the way in time, and was frozen in place. I took advantage of this, and ran up to it. I jumped up and cut off its antenna. Now it couldn't read my mind anymore. However, the Telethia managed to get away from me before I could finish it. The other 2 flew on both sides of me. I didn't even think, and just jumped out of the way. The Telethia flew right into each other. I used my new symbol again, and made sure they couldn't move. I sliced off their antenna once again. Now none of them could read my mind.

The Telethia landed on their stubby feet, and tried a different sort of technique. The first one used its wings to charge at me as fast as it could. I couldn't get out of the way in time, and I was sent into the cliff-side. The other 2 were also charging towards me. I rolled to my right to get out of the way. The 2 Telethia had attacked the cliff-side, and left a few small craters in there as well. I got back on my feet and attempted to stand my ground. The first Telethia tried to sneak up on me, and wring my throat with its tail. But I saw that in a vision. Once the Telethia made its move, I stepped forward, used the Monado to cut off its tail, and used the symbol to make sure it wouldn't get away. Once that was done, I stabbed it in the chest area, and sliced up with the Monado, cutting its chest and its head in half. The Telethia met the same fate as its friend.

The other 2 Telethia didn't like this though. They started walking over to me slowly. Just then, I saw another vision. The Telethia focused ether energy in front of their heads, and shot green bolts of energy at me. Just like that Telethia back at Colony 6. Once the vision had ended, they tried to do just that. I ran straight at them, and they fired their bolts. I moved over to the left a little bit, and avoided the bolts. One Telethia flew back to get some distance from me. The other one wasn't fortunate in that regard. Once I was close enough, I cut one of its wings in half, preventing it from flying away. In its confusion, I simply stabbed its head, and backed away from it as fast as I could. The Telethia exploded as the others had. Now there was only one left.

The final Telethia charged towards me with another bolt of energy in its hands, or claws, or whatever they are. I used the symbol to stop it once again. Once the Telethia couldn't move, I also noticed the energy in its claws disappeared. Looks like the symbol does more than just stop them in place. While it was frozen, I ran up to it, and sliced it directly across its body. The Telethia did not react at first. It stayed there for a moment, before it exploded as well. The Telethia were now dead. I did it. I deactivated the Monado, and stood there for a minute. Alvis walked up behind me, and put his hand on my right shoulder.

"Well? You see now, Shulk?" He asked me. I gave him a small nod.

"Thank you." That was all I said, until I remembered something I almost forgot. "Hey, wait a second! More importantly, where on Bionis did you learn to use the Monado?" Alvis chuckled, then changed the subject.

"They were not the primary Telethia. Merely its spawn. The primary Telethia dwells elsewhere in Makna Forest. Is it…wounded? I see. The Telethia is hurt and lies in rest. Wounded by a girl." What was he talking about?

"A girl?" Alvis walked closer to me, and grabbed the handle of the Monado.

"The Monado is a divine sword capable of disturbing the very fabric of existence. Of both the material and the immaterial." How does he even know this?

"Alvis. How do you know so much about the Monado? Who are you?" He didn't say anything.

"Shulk! Shulk!" I heard Reyn's voice. I turned away from Alvis.

"That's Reyn! I'm over here!" I shouted out to him, hoping he heard me. He started coming down the way I came. He heard me all right. He walked up to me.

"Shulk, we looked all over for you. Thought you'd been eaten by the forest!" Reyn told me.

"Sorry, Reyn. I got attacked my Telethia. If it hadn't been for Alvis, I wouldn't have survived." I told him.

"Alvis? Who's that?"

"I'll introduce you. He's the one that…" I turned around, but he wasn't there. "Alvis? But he was…" He disappeared.

"There's no one here."

"I'm telling you, he was right here. He even taught me how to unlock a new power from the Monado."

"Just you and me, Shulk. Ain't no one else around. You probably passed out from dehydration and dreamt this guy up. Come on. Wait 'til the others hear this." He laughed a little.

"He was here, Reyn! I didn't dream it, I'm not lying!" I yelled at him.

"OK, OK. I believe you. And while you were having fun with your imaginary friend, did you find any ether crystals?"

"Yes. Good quality ones too." I started glaring at him.

"Perfect. Come on. We should hurry them back to Sharla. Hang around here long enough and we'll get whacked by an imaginary beast!" He started laughing again.

"I'm not lying!" That was all I said to him. I walked close behind him, but I didn't say a word to him. He thought I was lying. I didn't want to talk to him right now. The bruises I got are very real, and they're still there. But there was one question that wouldn't leave my mind. "Alvis… Who are you?"

Slash POV

Shulk and Reyn got back a little while ago. Shulk had spent a good long time getting those crystals. An hour before he got back, I took myself out of Melia's mind. Yes, the girl's name is Melia Antique. I saw a lot in her dreams, but what I saw surprised me. She was dreaming about me, or what used to be me. Now, I'm sure she won't even recognize me. It hurts a little. We spent a lot of time together in the past, and now, almost 9 months after my supposed death, I'm back, but almost completely different. Moving on.

Shulk and Reyn walked over to talk to Dunban, while Sharla was preparing 2 cartridges. One for the girl, and one for me. I just sat off to the side, but still close to Melia. I had a lot of questions about my past answered, such as my birthday, my old home, my parents, and how close we all were back then. Especially Melia and I. We used to be a couple. That's why it hurts me to be in this position right now. But there are still plenty of questions running themselves through my mind.

" _What happened to my parents in the time I was gone? How did Melia put up with my 'death'? Why is she here now?"_ And those are just a few. I was taken out of my thoughts when Sharla spoke up.

"OK. Locked and loaded. Everyone, stand back." She told us. We all did as she said. She fired the first cartridge into the air, and ether dispersed almost everywhere around us. However, the ether seemed attracted to Melia, as all the dispersed ether started moving towards her body. Her body absorbed all of the ether, and had a faint glow for a moment.

"Wow. Unbelievable." Dunban said. I couldn't really blame him for it. It was an amazing sight. Afterwards, she started moving, and moaning a little bit.

"She's waking up." I said. I walked over to her, and took a knee right next to her. Her eyes began to open. She looked right at me. "Are you OK?"

"Where am I?" She asked, a little groggy. I only smiled a little.

"There's no need to worry, Melia. You're going to be all right. Thanks to our medic, Sharla. Now lets give you a hand up." She gasped as I grabbed her arm.

"Get your hands off me!" She screamed. She tried to slap me with her left hand, but I grabbed her wrist with my left before she could connect.

"Now is that any way to treat one of your own kind?" I asked her. I took my right hand, and moved my hair a little showing her the pointed ears. She gasped again.

"Forgive me." I nodded.

"You are already forgiven. No harm done." I stood up, and offered her my hand. She took it, and I helped her up. I also picked up her staff, and gave it to her. She gladly accepted.

"Are you the ones who helped me?" She asked.

"Yes, we are." I told her. I backed up a little to give her some room to breathe.

"How did you know my name? I have not seen you at Alcamoth before."

"Let's just say I have my methods and leave it at that for now. It would be best."

"Very well. Although you do seen familiar to me. Perhaps it is merely coincidence."

"Perhaps, but allow us to introduce ourselves. This is Shulk, Reyn, Sharla, and Dunban. As for who I am, my name is Slash."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"Likewise." Dunban said.

"Pleased to meet you." Shulk said.

"Nice to meet you too." Reyn said.

"Same to you, and I'm glad to see you're doing well now." Sharla said.

"And you said your name is Slash, correct?" Melia asked me. I nodded to confirm. "I once knew someone with that very name." She started to feel greatly depressed. The Slash she knew is believed to be dead. I had to change the subject, and quickly.

"Anyway, what are you doing out here in Makna Forest?" I asked her.

"I must apologize, but my situation does not concern any of you. And I shall not be divulging any information to common passers-by." She hid her feelings fairly well, but I could still feel them.

"Duly noted, your ladyship. But if I were to be so bold, I'm guessing you didn't come here alone and you weren't just taking an afternoon nap." Dunban said.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing here? It is rare to see a Homs venture this deep into Makna Forest." Melia said.

"We're traveling to the head of the Bionis. We've got a long journey ahead of us." Shulk said.

"The head of the Bionis?" Melia asked.

"We were just figuring out how to get there when we found you." Reyn said.

"I see. Then permit me to return the favor by aiding you in your quest." Melia told us.

"Really?" Reyn asked.

"There is only one path that leads to the head of the Bionis. It is the path that leads to Eryth Sea." Melia said.

"I'm finally returning home after almost 9 months." I mumbled.

"What was that, Slash?" Shulk asked me.

"Nothing. Just thinking a little bit." I told him.

"So this Eryth Sea is at the head of the Bionis?" Reyn asked.

"If you would be kind enough to escort me out of the forest, I will show you the way." Melia said.

"You'd do that?! Thank you, Melia!"

"Please, think nothing of it. It is the least I could do after you all helped me." Melia said.

"She's a bit high and mighty, but she's a Homs too, right? Why is she here alone?" Sharla quietly asked.

"Well, it would seem she half Homs, half High Entia. But I can tell there is something she is not telling us. Perhaps it has to do with why she's out here by herself." I explained.

"I know I ain't got a clue. You should ask her yourself. I'm not good with her posh accent." Reyn said. Melia started walking down the path a little, then stopped a short distance away from us.

"We shall travel to the Nopon village." Melia said.

"Nopon village?! That's where we've been heading. We reckon it's our best chance of making it to the top." Shulk said.

"Since inhabiting the region, the Nopon have been a great help. You can travel to Eryth Sea from their village." Melia explained to us. I wish I remembered that.

"Then it's settled. We'll started walking over to the Nopon village." I said.

"Very well. The Nopon inhabit a giant tree. If we follow this trail, we will be safe." Melia said. After that, we all started walking, with Melia taking the lead. I followed close behind, Shulk and Reyn were behind me, while Dunban and Sharla were in the back.

"Wait." Sharla said. "Slash, you'll need the other cartridge. There's still remnants of poison from the Dark Swamp in your system."

"Oh. Right. Lets get this over with." I walked a little bit away from the others while Sharla loaded the other cartridge into her rifle. When she was finished, she shot it in the air. Ether dispersed all around us. I started to breathe it in, and I could feel myself getting stronger. When it was finished, I felt amazing.

"That should do it. How do you feel?" Sharla asked me.

"I feel great. Thanks, Sharla. Now lets get back to the trail." I said. Everyone agreed, and we went back to walking as we did before. I just hope I can get Melia to recognize me somehow. But then there is still that other High Entia girl I remembered back in Satorl Marsh. Who was she?

 **(OK. There's chapter 7 for you. Much faster this time around. Review, and send me any notes you have. I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can. Do you think Melia will recognize Slash, or will he have to turn to the other girl? Keep reading and find out for yourselves.)**


	8. Chapter 8

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey everyone. Labor Day is over, and I'm back to work once again. Looks like you all liked chapter 7, so I'll keep this story going. No more beating around the bush. Here's chapter 8.)**

Chapter 8

Melia POV

Ever since these Homs and fellow High Entia helped me, I've been leading them to the Nopon village. When we have traversed half the needed distance, my mind turned to Slash. The Homs known as Sharla said he had been poisoned back in Satorl Marsh. As it is rare for Homs to journey this far, it is just as rare to see a High Entia so far away from Eryth Sea. I have done the same thing myself on a few occasions, but that was merely all I have done.

Even so, Slash seems to have gone further, and I can't but notice the scar on his face. Not only that, but also his strangely colored hair and his lack of wings. Not to mention he already knew who I was. I have never met him before now, but he does remind me of a young man who used to be courting me. He was such a kind soul, I couldn't turn him down. He was only strong when he needed to be. His name was also Slash. He changed his name after his parents died many years ago. He said that he didn't want something to remind him of his family's horrible fate. Unfortunately, he met the same fate as them. He was the last of the bloodline as well. Now his family name is lost forever. I wish he was still here with me. I miss him, more than anything.

I look back at Slash every so often. I bothers me how much he resembles my lost love. Why must I endure this sort of torture? I noticed he is looking in my direction, but I don't know if he is looking at the path or at me. The blind eye makes it a bit hard to tell. I tried to focus on making it to the Nopon village, but I couldn't help but be distracted by Slash. I slowed down a little bit, and walked alongside him. Only now, he seemed to be deep in thought. What was he thinking about?

"Slash?" I asked him. He didn't respond. "Slash?" He still did nothing. "Slash!" He nearly jumped at the sound of my voice that time.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Melia. I was lost in my thoughts for a minute there." He told me.

"I noticed. Anyway, I wish to speak to you."

"About what exactly?"

"You strongly resemble the man that used to be courting me. Are you related to him in some way?" He hesitated before he answered.

"No, but I did know of him. I also heard about what happened to him. I am sorry for your loss, and I also apologize for me being a reminder of said man." He seemed depressed now. We didn't say anything for a while. I finally broke the silence between us.

"Are you OK?"

"Fine. I just… Have a lot on my mind right now." There's something he is hiding from me. I have to know what it is.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"What do you mean by that, your highness?" I was shocked.

"How did you know that?! I haven't said anything on the matter!"

"You have your tricks, as I have mine." He continues to be vague with me.

"I demand that you stop playing this game with me, and tell me who you are!"

"Sorry, but I can't do that. However, you might want to watch your back." I immediately turned around to see the Homs known as Reyn trip and almost fall on me. I managed to slip away, but it was still close.

"Reyn! How many times have I told you to watch where you're going?" Shulk said.

"How many times must you make a fool of yourself like this, Reyn? You are a member of the Defense Force. Straighten up a little." Dunban told him.

"Thanks for the warning." I said, but when I didn't hear a response, I looked back towards where Slash was. Only, he wasn't there. "Slash? Where did you go? Slash!" No answer. He seemingly disappeared. I remember that trick. My consort often did that, then appeared behind me and hugged me tightly. It was always surprising, because you never knew when he was going to disappear or reappear.

"Melia. Did you say something?" Shulk walked up and asked me.

"Do you know where Slash went?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" Shulk asked. he started looking all around. "Not again."

"You mean to tell me he's done this before?!" I was amazed at this.

"Yeah, and we don't have a clue as to where he goes. It just sort of happens to us."

"Will he return soon?"

"It's hard to say. We haven't known him for that long."

"Oh. OK." I felt disappointed. Why did he already leave?

" _Wait. Why do I care? I don't feel for him. My heart only belongs to one man, and he is gone. But, my heart has been beating faster than usual since I got close to him. Do I feel for him? No! I don't! He is just a nice man. Nothing more. But…"_ My mind and my heart are seemingly arguing with each other. My heart is telling me 'yes', while my mind is reminding me of what was, and telling me 'no'. I don't know what to do around Slash anymore. That is, if he ever returns.

We all continued walking along the path. Eventually, we came across a small wooden platform connecting to another with a small rope bridge. I walked on the platform with the others close behind me. There were many other platforms around this area of the forest. Each on is connected to each other via rope bridges. This meant we are close to the Nopon village. Once we made our way to the village entrance, there was a blue Nopon waiting in front of said entrance. I stopped there for a moment, and turned to face the others.

"This is the entrance to Frontier Village." I told them.

"So this big tree is where the Nopon live?" Reyn asked. I nodded to confirm what he just said. I walked up to the blue Nopon in front of the entrance.

"Ah! Bird Lady! Welcome back Bird Lady!" He told me.

"I wish to speak to the village chief. Will you permit us to enter?" I asked him. He walked to the side, out of our way, allowing us through.

"My pleasure, my pleasure!" He said. I started to walk through, until the Nopon spoke up again. "Wait! Almost forgot! There is Bird Man inside. He said ' waiting for friends.' You know Bird Man?"

"Does he have white marks on his face, and strange colored hair?" Dunban asked.

"Yes, yes! That him!" The Nopon answered. I smiled a little at the news.

"Thank you for making us aware of this." I told him. I turned to face the other again. "I shall take you to the village chief. Follow me." Afterwards, we all walked in together.

Here in Frontier Village, the village itself is built inside the largest tree in the forest. The tree is hollow on the inside, and there are wooden platforms built almost everywhere. Each platform is connected to another because of more rope bridges. The Nopon use only what the forest offers them, so they don't have any machinery, or technology. The tree reached almost all the way up to the Bionis' head. On the ground floor, there was a small pool of water, and an alter built in the center of the pool. There was an orb of pure ether energy floating above the alter in the center. It shined brightly, and illuminated the entire tree when it is dark out.

When we approached the village, we drew the attention of all the Nopon that live here. They all began shouting out.

"Hom Hom!"

"Hom here Hom here!"

"Hom who Hom who?"

"Hom Hom everywhere!"

"Me want touch Hom Hom!"

"Me want nibble Hom Hom!"

"Hom Hom taste! Bleh!"

"Hom Hom scary!" When they quieted down, I spoke to them.

"Nopon of Frontier Village! Melia Antique has returned. I request an audience with your chief. Chief, will you hear my request?" The Nopon started shouting out again.

"Melia here."

"Bird Lady here."

"Melia back."

"Bird Lady back." I waited until they quieted themselves down again. When they achieved that, they let us through. I saw the chief standing at the alter speaking to Slash. I heard a little bit of what they were talking about.

"I must say, it is good to see you again, my dear friend! We all had thought you perished months ago." The chief said. What did he mean by that?

"I know, but I recently just remembered that myself, courtesy of seeing Melia again after so long. I'm honestly surprised you recognized me, chief." Slash said. What are they talking about?

"I may be old, but don't mistake me for a blind Nopon now."

"That's not what I meant."

"Ha ha! I know. So, what brings the princess' consort to us today?" Did he truly just make such an assumption?

"It's not like that. Not anymore. She doesn't recognize me, nor does she want to remember who I used to be." What are you talking about? It is not like that! We just met!

"I see. This is quite the situation you have gotten into, especially since you have become part Dinobeast, or what you refer to as the Telethia. How did that come to be?" Slash is part Telethia? Is that how he knew me? He read my mind while I was unconscious? I blushed at that last thought. I dreamed of something extremely personal and private. Something that I wish happened between me and my Slash before the Mechon came.

"I'm afraid I am not aware, but that does not matter at the moment. I'm just glad someone recognized me for once."

"There is no need for thanks. I am also glad that you managed to survive after all this time. The littlepons have never been happier to see you again. You should go see them again, while I speak with Melia." Slash nodded, and walked away. The chief walked up to me, but I couldn't stop thinking about what I just heard. Is there some reason why Slash appears so familiar to me? The chief spoke to me, taking me away from my thoughts for now. "My dear Melia, it's good to see you again so soon. And you look so well. And what of your men?" I bowed my head in shame at that.

"They are at one with the Bionis. They sacrificed their lives so that I might escape. But this is not my reason for coming. The Homs and Slash need your help. Will you be so kind as to listen to our request?" I asked him.

"What could a Hom Hom need of me?"

"They require safe passage to Eryth Sea."

"I see no reason to deny them. And Melia, what of you?"

"I have unfinished business in this region. Once these Homs and Slash are safely on their way, I shall be on mine as well." I walked in Slash's direction. I needed to talk to him. Hopefully he will listen to me.

Slash POV

I walked over to the littlepons after I talked to the chief. It felt good that there was someone who recognized me, even if I do look fairly different. The littlepons started jumping all over the place. They were bouncing in pure joy once I made it over to them. However, while I was there, they were asking me questions like 'where Bird Man's wings?' or 'why Bird Man have white on face?' and others of that nature. I didn't tell them any of it, as I myself did not want to remember that memory. Just the thought of Metal Face makes my blood boil.

I heard footsteps behind me. I looked and saw it was Melia standing behind me now. She did not look pleased to say the least. At most, I'd say she might have been furious, but I couldn't tell just by looking at her physical state.

"Slash, may I have a word with you in private?" She asked me. Somehow, I knew where this was going.

"Sure. Just one moment. I'll be there in a second." I told her. She nodded in agreement, and began walking over to our meeting place, near the top of the tree. I spent a few more minutes with the littlepons before I decided to see Melia. When I started to make my way, I ran into Shulk and the others.

"Slash! You mind not disappearing on us, man?! We had no idea where you went!" Reyn shouted at me.

"Maybe you should move a little faster from now on." I told him, intentionally pushing his buttons. He was such an easy target, and his reactions were priceless.

"Oi! You calling me slow?!"

"No. I'm calling you fat and slow." Reyn's face went red with anger.

"That's it! You want a fight?! You got one!" He grabbed his scrap driver, and readied it. I drew my sword, switched to its dual blade function, and held the blades in a backhanded position. In this position, I'm at my best.

"Let's see what you can do, fat boy." I taunted. It worked, as he charged straight at me. He raised his scrap driver to impale me, but that was predictable, reckless, and sloppy. As soon as he was right in front of me, I moved to the right a little, making his weapon graze my jacket. Then, as his weapon was next to my body, I used the blade in my right hand to push it across his body, and use my right foot to trip him at the same time. He tumbled and rolled a bit before he stopped, flat on his back. I took advantage of this, and went for the finish. I planted my left foot on his chest, and put my right blade, still in its backhanded position, to his throat.

"What?!" Reyn said, wide-eyed and surprised it only took less than a minute. I stared at him for a minute before I broke the silence.

"You have any idea how easy it would be for me to slit your throat right now? Do you have any idea how reckless you are? If you keep this up, you will only get yourself killed. Not only that, but you let your emotions get the better of you. Your anger made you sloppy and predictable. I didn't even have to read that tiny thing you call a mind to see what came next. With this in mind, the only thing you have to offer is pure strength, and even then, you waste it, just like you did a moment ago. Think on this, Reyn. And I promise you, you will only improve when you see the truth about yourself, and your fighting style." I sheathed my blade once it was pieced together again. Everyone looked at me with shock clear on all their faces.

"Incredible. I've never seen anyone defeat Reyn in such a short amount of time, nor give him any advice afterwards." Dunban said.

"I appreciate it, Dunban. But right now, I have other matters to attend to. I need to talk to Melia. You can join me if you want." I told them.

"Gladly." Dunban said.

"We'll be happy to come with you." Shulk said.

"Sure thing." Reyn said. He sounded a little cold towards me. Even so, it doesn't bother me.

"Are you sure you want us to come along? I doubt you and Melia with be just talking to one another." Sharla said. My heart started racing at that new thought in my mind, but I pushed it out before a blush could form on my face.

"It's not like that, Sharla." I said, barely keeping a calm tone in my voice.

"I'm just teasing. I thought you would have blushed though."

"You'll have to do better than that." After that, we started walking up to the place where I am to meet up with Melia. I have to admit though, Sharla almost did make me blush. That was close.

I walked up the inner workings of the tree, with Shulk and the others following close behind me. All the Nopon were either happy to see us, or scared of us. It was understandable. After all, my face isn't the friendliest one around, thanks to the scars. Nearing the top of the tree, I saw Melia standing by herself on the platform above the reservoir of water down below. This reminds me of a Nopon custom. If you jump from this platform into the water below, the girl down below will see you. When you swim back to the shore to her, you will have proven your undying love and commitment to said girl. How do I know that? Another memory I'm guessing. I walked up close to Melia, and stopped right behind her.

"You know, Melia, it's very rude to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations." Melia nearly jumped at the sound of my voice.

"You knew that I was…" She couldn't finish. She was very nervous now.

"It is certainly unbecoming of the princess of all people to do such a thing." I whispered to her. She was truly shocked. I had her right where I wanted her.

"How did you know I was listening? You didn't even look in my direction!" She almost shouted out.

"Being part Telethia allows me to sense the presence of others that are nearby. There is nothing you can do to hide or hide something from me." She was starting to sweat a little after I said that.

"Then you know that I have questions for you?"

"Of course, but I wouldn't bother asking."

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't believe me if I told you. You will find out in due time." If she wasn't mad at me before, she was now.

" _Damn! I want to tell her so badly, but I can't just outright say it. I can't just walk up to her and say 'Hey! It's Slash! I'm not dead! I'm so sorry I've been gone for about 9 months, but the Mechon experimented on me!'. No one would believe something like that. Hell, I'm still trying to believe that myself! The memories I've recovered are just pieces of a puzzle. But they are scattered, and don't make a lot of sense at the moment."_

"I have grown tired of this game of yours, Slash. You will tell me what is going on here, or I shall force it out of you." Melia threatened.

"I don't want to play this game, but I have no choice. You must find the answers for yourself." Now she was confused.

"Why do you say it like that?" Oops. The tone of my voice. I didn't realize it until now. I slipped up. I have to dodge this question.

"Again, you must find out the answers for yourself." Hopefully, that worked.

"Very well then. If you refuse to tell me, then so be it." She said. Phew. Dodged a bullet there.

"You are more than welcome to join us on our journey. We could use someone who knows their way around Eryth Sea to help us."

"I would, but I still have business here to take care of." I reached into her mind after she said that. I saw what she was talking about, but I didn't realize Telethia looked like that.

"You're talking about the Telethia, aren't you?"

"Yes. That creature must be stopped. This is my pledge to those that have died."

"We could help out with that. Shulk managed to defeat some Telethia while gathering the ether crystals used for us." She gasped at this, then looked at Shulk.

"You defeated Telethia?! Who are you?" She asked Shulk. I walked away. I had decided to see chief Dunga again. I wanted to speak to him a bit more about my situation.

"Hold on." Dunban said, putting his hand on my right shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I… Need to see the chief about something real quick." I told him.

"Very well. Then don't let me keep you. Just come back here when you are finished." I nodded in agreement. I won't disappear on them again this time. I walked over to chief Dunga's little house. He was right outside.

"Chief Dunga. Do you have a moment?" I asked him.

"Ah, Slash! What brings you here to see me again?" He said in return.

"I was hoping to tell you more about my current situation. This does not include Melia however."

"I see. What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"I was hoping to tell you a bit about why I am what I am. It has to do with the Mechon though."

"Mechon? Do you refer to those metal monsters that roam the Bionis, killing Homs, Nopon, and High Entia alike?!"

"Yes. I'm afraid so."

"Why do you mention the Mechon here? What could your situation have to do with them?"

Melia POV

Shulk had explained what had happened during his quest to collect the ether crystals to aid in my recovery. It is hard to believe that the sword he wields is capable of everything he said it is. However, if it is true, then that sword may be the only chance we have against the Telethia. But there are things about the Telethia that he is not aware of. Perhaps the Telethia is too powerful to destroy. But Slash is part Telethia. Maybe we do have a chance.

"The Monado… So that sword can…" I said. I still find what Shulk told me hard to believe.

"To tell the truth, they were the Telethia's spawn. Someone told me the primary Telethia is healing somewhere in the forest. It was you, wasn't it? You hurt the Telethia." Shulk said.

"Yes. The Telethia escapes from our homeland and I am tasked with killing it. It cannot remain free. For the sake of my people, and the Nopon, it must be stopped."

"Melia, we can help you defeat it, if you like." Shulk said.

"Out of pity?" I asked.

"No."

"Why then?"

"It's just… I… I want…" He seemed incapable of finishing a sentence at the moment.

"Speak, Shulk. Or I shall be forced to summon the Nopon chief to interpret for me."

"I would like to help."

"What could you possibly gain from aiding me?"

"I saw it. At the top of a black tower, you and I were fighting together. Fighting that faced Mechon. I also saw you fighting a huge Telethia."

"It threw the first time 'n' all." Reyn spoke.

"Forgive me, Shulk, but what are you talking about?" I said.

"Shulk can see visions of the future." Reyn told me. Something like that is impossible.

"See the future?! And you expect me to believe this rubbish?" I asked.

"Believe what you want, lady. Same as I tell all the non-believers."

"That'll be me then." Sharla said.

"Oh yeah. In any case, the only reason we got this far was 'cos of Shulk's vision. If Shulk says he saw you in a vision, then you must be important to whatever happens next. And if you're tough enough to fight a faced Mechon, you're all right in my book." Reyn explained.

"You've got my vote. A lady should not go unaccompanied onto the battlefield." Dunban said. That was a bit insulting to hear.

"Excuse me! I am quite capable of dispatching the beast alone! I require no assistance of any kind!" I nearly shouted at them. I heard some very faint footsteps a moment later. I looked over, and I saw Slash walking alongside chief Dunga.

"My dear. I apologize, but I could not help overhearing. Their offer sounds quite reasonable. The danger extends much further than our small dwelling. Makna itself is at risk. And we shall provide you with the finest warrior of our clan." Chief Dunga told me. Was he really willing to aid us in such a way?

"Chief Dunga, I…" I couldn't really say anything at the moment, but even if I could, He spoke again anyhow.

"No need for thanks. He is the equal, if not better, of the Hom Hom."

"You do know we're listening?" Reyn said.

"The chosen Nopon hero will await you below. I shall go ahead and prepare him. Please excuse me." Chief Dunga said before he left. Slash stayed behind with us.

"A Nopon hero? Now this I have to see!" Reyn said. The tone in his voice suggests he saw this as a joke.

"I realize the Nopon have little to no experience in a fight, but that is no reason to be like that towards them." Slash said.

"I agree. Let's at least meet him first." Shulk said. Afterwards, we started walking back down to the alter to meet this hero. But for whatever reason, Slash didn't move an inch.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked him.

"I'll be there. I just have my own way of getting down." He said.

"You don't mean you're going to-" He cut me off.

"Jump into the reservoir down below? Yes, I do." He jumped immediately after he said that. I ran over to the edge to see if he was all right. He landed in the water, and surfaced as if it didn't matter. I then joined the others, and simply walk down, but a part of me wanted to jump after him.

Slash POV

I had forgotten what it felt like to jump from that high up. That was scary, but also exhilarating. Such a strange mixture of emotions to me. They seem like they shouldn't come together for anything. I swam to shore, and walked over to the alter. I waited for the others for a while. When I finally saw them, they seemed annoyed with my actions. Melia was angry with me as well. I just looked away from them, and looked towards chief Dunga. I gave him a subtle nod, and he began his introduction of his Nopon hero.

"May I introduce… Heropon Riki!" Chief Dunga proudly said. The other Nopon started chatting amongst themselves. I heard a couple of them.

"Yay! Riki! Our Heropon!" Next thing I knew, there was an orange Nopon dropping from one of the upper platforms, and falling towards us. He bounced off of Reyn's face. I chuckled a little at his bad luck. The Nopon, Riki, bounced in front of Dunban.

"Watch out!" He said while giving Riki a little push towards Sharla. He landed on her vest. Not the best place to land on a woman. Don't ask me how it happened exactly. It just did.

"Get off me!" Sharla said, while bouncing Riki off of her to Melia. Riki went up into the air for a couple seconds.

"To you!" Melia said, as she used her arms as if Riki was a volleyball. I'm starting to feel a little bad for Riki now. But this time, Riki came to me.

"I don't want him!" I said, as I did the same thing as Melia, and bounced Riki over to Shulk. Shulk just gave him one last bounce into the air without saying anything. Riki went higher than usual.

"Right in the… Take this, furball!" Reyn said. He did a small jump, and spiked Riki like the volleyball he was at the moment. He hit Riki with everything he had too. I winced at the force he used on the Nopon. Surprisingly though, Riki didn't land in the water. Matter of fact, he was just barely hanging off the edge of the alter. He didn't move for a bit. Then, out of nowhere, a mushroom hit his back. The Nopon were not really happy with this. They started shouting out while throwing more mushrooms at us.

"Heropon!"

"Heropon fight back!"

"Heropon chomp chomp!"

"Heropon go forth!"

"Heropon get up!"

"Heropon make Nopon proud!"

I got annoyed with this rather quickly. I did not feel like being treated like this over one little Nopon. I didn't even bother blocking the mushrooms as they came down on us. I barely had to move at all to avoid them. Most of the mushrooms were hitting Riki though. It looked like he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"SILENCE!" Chief Dunga shouted out. I cringed at that. The Nopon stopped almost instantly. Remind me to stay on his good side. That was a little scary, even for me. Chief Dunga then walked over to Riki and helped him up. "I introduce to you this year's legendary Heropon, Riki!" He then put Riki back on his feet in front of us. Riki did not look good at the moment. We all just started at him for a minute before he moved. As soon as he did, he basically jumped to meet us.

"New Hom Hom friends! Meet this year's legendary Heropon, Riki! Riki live to serve!" Riki said, as he struck this posh, and winked at us. That did not feel quite right to me. He was about half the size of chief Dunga, had a big scar on his stomach that looked like an X, and had a blue vest on. Not sure how much help he's going to be.

"A Heropon, you say? Not sure where you'll come in handy, but the more the merrier." Dunban said. I'm glad someone is being positive around here. "Shulk, are these Telethia as strong as they sound?"

"Yes. They're quick as lightning and can read you're mind." Shulk said.

"A mind-reading giant bird. No problem."

"Huh. Makes me a little jealous, since I'm part Telethia. I wish I could move that fast." I said.

"I can see their movement through the Monado, but even that's not enough to get the better of them." Shulk continued.

"And we're going up against the daddy version. No one blink for a second." Dunban said.

"OK." Shulk said.

"Eyes wide open!" Reyn said.

"And don't forget that Melia is our only chance of making it to Eryth Sea. If anything happens to our guide, it's on our heads. The Telethia is our target, but don't forget about the person standing next to you." Dunban mentioned.

"Dunban's right." Sharla said.

"I am in your dept. My weaknesses are all too apparent." Melia said.

"The only weakness I see is the fact that you were alone, but you have us now. So I see no reason to put yourself down like that. We're all here for you Melia." I told her. She looked at me with a slight blush on her face. My face was starting to heat up a little as I realized what I just said.

"Thank you." She said to me. She now had a small smile on her face. That made me feel good.

"Looks like someone is blushing today." Sharla whispered in my ear. The heat in my face got even hotter after she said that. I pulled the scarf over my mouth and nose again. I could at least hide some of it. Chief Dunga chimed in shortly after.

"Riki has been informed of the Dinobeast, what you refer to as the Telethia. Be safe, my Hom Hom friends." He said. Them, he started to walk away. He was fairly slow, but not overly so.

"Riki's friends, listen to Riki! Dinobeast is big and scary! Friends get ready, friends help Riki get ready!" Riki said. Why do Nopon, with the exception of chief Dunga, speak in 3rd person? I just don't get it.

"You want us to get equipment for you?" Shulk asked.

"Riki's friend right. Hom Hom clever! Friends meet Riki when ready. Then friends and Riki leave together."

"Big attitude for a furry footrest. 'Dinobeast is big and scary!' Great. That'll come in handy." Reyn said, while imitating Riki's voice. That voice is a bit funny, but more annoying. I don't need 2 Riki voices.

"Is it just me, or did we suddenly become Nopon mercenaries?" Sharla asked.

"It's not just you, Sharla." I told her. Afterwards, we went to get Riki's equipment. It only took a few minutes, but when we were done, we met Riki at the village entrance. We gave him his equipment, and he started doing this little dance.

"Ready to go! Come new friends, Riki's adventure begins!" Riki said. Again with 3rd person. I might as well get used to it.

"Riki, you do know where the Telethia is, right?" I asked him.

"Of course Riki know! Melly! Riki hear you hurt Dinobeast!" Did he just call Melia 'Melly'?

"I did. But only a little." Melia said.

"Still, it's better than not doing anything." I told her.

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"When Dinobeast hurt, Riki know it go to place with ether crystals. Friends and Riki go to place with ether crystals. Then we find Dinobeast! Chief tell Riki! Chief always right!" Riki told us.

"So you do know a thing or 2 about this monster." Reyn said.

"It would make sense. It has taken refuge in the very homeland of the Nopon." I said.

"Guess we'll be searching for some ether crystals then." Reyn finished. We were about to start making our way across the network of wooden bridges in this area of the forest, until Shulk asked Riki something.

"Riki, why are you the Heropon?" He asked.

"Why? Because chief Dunga choose Riki!"

"He chose you? So you weren't chosen from birth?"

"Friend wrong. Chief choose by instinct!"

"By instinct?!" Reyn shouted in complete disbelief.

"Why friend surprised? Chief have sharp instinct. Chief be village seer!" Riki said.

"So that's how you became the Heropon? Can't argue with that." Dunban said.

"I don't see how you could." I said. That got a chuckle out of a couple of us.

"But he is kind of… Compact… For a warrior hero." Shulk said.

"Riki owe lots of monies to village. If Riki defeat Dinobeast, village promise to forget my debts. So Riki like being Heropon!" Riki said. The benefits of a hero. Lucky Nopon. But enough of that. We began to make our way across the bridges. Riki led the way, since he knew the forest better than the rest of us. It took a while going across all these bridges, since there were so many of them. Eventually, we made it to the Windmill Pavilion. At least, that's what Riki called it. We got back on the ground below, and continued following Riki. We had to walk through a river that was waist deep. Sharla slipped a couple time, but Reyn caught her each time. Shulk and Dunban stayed close to each other. Melia stayed directly in front of me. Once we made it to the other side, Melia tripped on something. I caught her, and the position we were in suggested something romantic.

Her arms were wrapped around my neck for support, while I held her by her hips. I was leaning over, and she was just below me, her face just a few centimeters away from mine. We both blushed seeing our current positions, and straighten each other out before the others could see us. I have to admit though, it seemed a bit cliché to me. I wanted to kiss her lips so badly, but I can't just do that. It's not right. I remember her, but she doesn't recognize me. She deserves better than me anyway.

Finally, Riki stopped. He started jumping around again, but not for joy this time. This was out of fear.

"What is this? Riki never see before! This not Riki's Makna! Riki never see before!" Riki shouted. I could see why. Everything on that direction was gray, and lacking life. This very section of the forest appeared to be dead. The trees and the very grass itself was ruined.

"To think it has caused this much damage." Melia said.

"What do you mean?" Sharla asked.

"Are you telling me the Telethia did this?" Dunban asked.

"Telethia absorb and drain the surrounding area of all it's ether." Melia said.

"That's it! The Telethia is sucking up all the ether, which is causing the natural environment to change." Shulk said.

"But not for the better." I added.

"Shulk, the Telethia can read your mind. Expect it to know what you will do before you do it." Melia said.

"I know. I'll aim for its antenna and stop its ability to read my thoughts. With the Monado at our side, it doesn't stand a chance." Shulk explained.

"Not only that, but Slash here is also part Telethia. He doesn't have any antenna, and he also shares some of the same abilities as the Telethia. Perhaps if the Monado were to somehow fail us, Slash may be able to aid us." Dunban explained.

"I'm not that good." I said.

"It is much more powerful than its offspring. Do not expect it to fall so easily." Melia said.

"I won't. But we have to trust in the Monado. And I know Slash will do his best." Shulk said.

"I'm flattered you would think of me as useful." I said. I looked at the surroundings. Then, I heard Melia's voice, but it seemed distant. She wasn't talking. She was thinking.

" _Shulk has only met Telethia once, and they were merely the spawn. So why is he so sure of himself? Is it confidence or a trust in something? Yes. It is trust. He trusts in the power of that sword. And he trusts Slash's abilities as well. What did he say that sword was called? The Monado? I see."_ I can understand her thoughts. She is having some slight doubts as well. I would be lying if I wasn't in the same boat myself.

" _They all seem to trust me enough to aid in this battle. But why? Is it just because I can read minds? Or is there something more that I'm not seeing right now? If this Telethia is as powerful as Melia described it to be, we may have quite a fight on our hands. I just hope I can prove I'm worthy of their trust. I can't fail them. I failed to fend for myself almost 9 months ago, and this is where it got me. I won't make the same mistakes. We will win this!"_ I thought to myself. We walked into the gray area of the forest. We didn't go very far when we heard a very strange roar. It was close by. I could sense it. The Telethia was here after all. I drew my sword, and switched to its dual blade function. I held the 2 blades in my backhanded position, and prepared for the beast.

The Telethia swooped over all our heads, and nearly took them off. It was big. About the same size as Xord. 3 heads, 4 legs, 2 tails, yellow accents on is chest and its 2 tails, strange wings, and weird colored skin. I see why my hair is the color it is now. The Telethia stopped and hovered in the air, looking directly at us.

"Stick together everyone!" Reyn said.

"Dinobeast! Big as Riki imagined!" Riki shouted out of fear. I don't blame him for it. The Telethia roared at us again. It was not happy with us at all. Everyone else drew their weapons at this. Shulk activated the Monado, Sharla reloaded her rifle, Reyn grabbed his scrap driver, Dunban drew his katana, Riki grabbed his weapon, whatever it was, and Melia's staff was in her hand. I realized that her staff was extendable. She could shorten it so it is easier to carry, and lengthen it when it is time to fight.

"The Telethia! I take this chance to bring vengeance for my brethren and fulfill my duty! Shulk, Slash! I will trap it and cease its movement. Strike when the time is right!" Melia told us as she started running towards the Telethia. Is she insane?

"Melia, wait!" I shouted at her. I ran after her, and Shulk was very close behind. The others didn't move for a couple of seconds before they started running after us. Melia suddenly stopped in place, and there was a bright glow in her left hand as she held her staff in her right. Her eyes had the same glow, turning from blue to gold.

"Be still!" She shouted. She threw her palm, making it face the Telethia. A bright golden wave of energy came from her hand, and hit the Telethia dead on. So that's how she would limit it.

"Oh yeah! She's nifty with that staff." I heard Reyn say.

"I knew it. She can control ether energy without using catalysts or rifle shells." Sharla said. How is that possible?

"I've heard that such people exist. But I never thought she would be one. Shulk, Reyn, Slash, Sharla! Protect Melia at all costs!" Dunban said.

"On it!" Reyn said.

"Right!" Sharla said.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" I said. Shulk didn't say anything, and just ran at the Telethia. I was right next to him tat the moment. Dunban and Reyn were next to each other behind us. Sharla stayed behind, so she could use her rifle from a distance. Riki stayed with her, completely afraid to go anywhere near the Telethia. Melia was already in front of the beast, and it was now completely furious with us.

This is it. It's time to see what I can really do with my abilities.

 **(OK. There you have it. Chapter 8 is yours to read now. Chapter 9 is currently being worked on, and seems to be starting off OK. But I'll let you tell me when the time comes. Please review, and send me any notes you may have, and I'll make a few improvements to Chapter 9 if possible. Also, I appreciate darkwarp for sending your reviews, but can the rest of you send something for me? I want to know what you think. If I'm getting all these views, I should be getting a few more reviews. Heh. I rhymed. See you all next time.)**


	9. Chapter 9

All's fair in Love and War

 **(Hey. Took a while, but I got your next chapter ready for you all. So here it is. Enjoy.)**

Chapter 9

Slash POV

Shulk and I charged straight towards the Telethia, and get close enough to support Melia. Once I was close enough, I tried to slice at one of its legs. It saw this coming though, and jumped back a little bit to avoid me. It then began charging some energy into a huge ball of ether energy. The Telethia shot it right at me. I manged to avoid it, but it burned off a little of my left sleeve, while surprisingly leaving the glove intact. After I dodged, it turned its attention to Melia. It shot a few smaller blasts at her. She used her staff to deflect them, but had to take a step back each time. The Telethia looked around a little since its attack failed. It then hovered just slightly above the ground, and spun very quickly. It was trying to get everyone at once. We managed to block it, but Riki was the unlucky one here. He flew off in some random direction, and bounced off a nearby tree. When he hit the ground, I saw he was asleep. This was not a good start.

Sharla rushed over to Riki to see if she could wake him up. The Telethia started focusing on me again. Before it attacked, it had a brief green aura. I didn't think on it, as I went straight for it. I tried to cut one of its legs, but it jumped in the air, and hovered just out of my reach. It saw that coming. It began to charge another huge ball of ether energy. It shot it at me. I managed to dodge it again, but only to get a few smaller shots to my chest. I began to feel a bit drowsy. I shook my head, and tried to stay awake. It worked, but not a lot. The Telethia then decided to go after Shulk. It rushed towards him, but Shulk ducked below it just in time. He then used this new symbol on the Telethia. It was now paralyzed. Dunban and Reyn both took advantage of this and attacked. Dunban jumped on it, and started cutting away at one of its 3 necks. Reyn was stabbing at its side as if there was no tomorrow.

The Telethia managed to recover faster than I anticipated. It swat Reyn away using both of its tails. It rose up to the skies, and began to shake Dunban off in any way it could. Unfortunately for Dunban, the Telethia succeeded, and he hit the ground hard. Melia ran over to him, and used her control over ether to heal him quickly, while Riki had just now woken up, and went back to hiding behind Sharla. Dunban was back on his feet, and Sharla was shooting at the Telethia, not missing once. The Telethia landed in front of her, and swat her using one of its heads. Sharla landed on her feet, but still looked in pain. Melia ran over to her, and gave her the same treatment. Dunban rushed at the Telethia again. I went to join him.

Dunban jumped back onto the Telethia's back. He stabbed his sword into it, so he could stay on this time. I stabbed both of my blades into its side, where Reyn did his work, and held on tight. The Telethia took to the air again, and started shaking again. I lost my grip on my blades, but I grabbed its leg as I began to fall. As it continued to try and shake us off, Dunban was inching closer to its heads, while Sharla was shooting at its chest. Dunban stabbed the blade into the back of its middle neck. At that moment, we both fell off. I hit the ground first, and it hurt like hell. Dunban landed right next to me, and felt the same. Melia made it over to me, while Sharla was treating Dunban. Melia gave me the same treatment as the others, and I felt better almost instantly. I got back up, and watched the Telethia for a bit. I was waiting for it to get back on the ground, so I could get my swords back.

That time came soon, as it touched down, and charged yet another huge ball of ether energy. It was looking directly at Reyn this time. Shulk saw this, and used a different symbol just as the Telethia launched its attack. The Monado created a sort of shield around all of us. When the attack hit Reyn, it did absolutely nothing. I saw an opening, and rushed over towards the Telethia. I grabbed my blades, but couldn't get them out in time. The Telethia saw me, and started spinning very fast. My swords came out, and I was sent into one of those dead trees. I fell to the ground, and groaned in pain. No one came over to me just yet. Reyn got in front of the Telethia, and started stabbing at its chest. Melia was behind it, hitting it with ether energy of her own. Shulk and Dunban ran alongside each other, and worked together getting on its back again. Shulk used Monado Buster, and left a deep gash in its back. Dunban added to it, and ran his sword deeper into said gash, making the injury worse. Sharla was peppering its side with bullets.

After some time, the Telethia spun again, and almost everyone dropped to the ground, asleep. Melia and Sharla were the only 2 who weren't asleep. Riki somehow managed to get caught in it again. Melia rushed over to me, and healed me again. She then rushed over to Shulk, while Sharla was tending to Reyn and Dunban. I got back up, and noticed the Telethia was charging another ball of ether energy. This one was 3 times larger than the previous ones, and it was aimed towards Melia. Shulk got up, and ran out of the way. Wen Melia saw the attack, the Telethia launched it, and I ran. I wasn't going to make it in time. Halfway there, everything fell into slow motion, except for me. I made it to Melia just in time to push her out of the way. When I did though, everything went back to normal, and I couldn't get out of the way. I was sent flying through a tree, slitting it in 2, and hitting another tree behind it hard. I hit the ground face first, and felt the damaged done.

My bones were broken, and some were even shattered completely. My clothes were singed, and my scarf had been obliterated. My swords didn't have a scratch on them though. I looked up to see Melia running over to me screaming something, but I couldn't make it out, since I was losing consciousness. When Melia got to me, I saw her beautiful face one last time before I blacked out from the pain. She was crying a little. Seeing me in pain must have reminded her of the others she lost. I knew she didn't recognize me, so I didn't even bother to think she really cared about my well being. I hope the others can beat the Telethia without me around.

Melia POV

Another was about to lose his life attempting to protect me. It reminded me of the soldiers from before. But his current state reminded me of my beloved. I looked at him closely to see his injuries. He was barely alive, but his body had been rendered useless. And he did it to save me. Before I began to heal him, I noticed a scar on his throat. So that's what he had the scarf for. When I saw it, I remembered the Mechon from Eryth Sea almost 9 months ago. A scar right in that very spot is nothing short of fatal, if not a guaranteed death. I realized something I should have noticed earlier right then and there.

"It's you…" I whispered. I couldn't believe it. Tears started welling up in my eyes. My Slash was still alive, and he was right here in front of me. "Why didn't you tell me? Why were you away for so long? Why do you look like this?" My tears began to flow freely. I hugged his body close to mine.

" _Even if he did tell me, I wouldn't have believed it anyway. I thought he was dead for almost 9 long, brutal months. I doubt he could have just walked up to me and told me. Now he's here in front of me again, and he's been hurt again. But this time, I'm not too late to help him. I won't lose you again, Slash. I promise you that."_ I began to heal him. Thoughts of how he became part Telethia, and why he looks the way he does were swirling in my head the entire time. Whatever happened to him in the time since we were separated, I can tell he has certainly been through a lot.

While the fight continued, I stayed and kept healing Slash, hoping he would wake up soon. I watched the battle and also hoped the Telethia would not seek to finish the job. Shulk was performing fairly well. He used the Monado, I believe it was called, and did something strange with it. A symbol appeared in the center as it had done before. Then, he ran a few feet, jumped in the air, and slammed the blade into the ground. Light blue energy spread out, and enveloped everyone in it, with the exception of the Telethia. Everyone began to move faster after that. The Telethia was mainly focusing on Dunban at the moment. However, even with the ability to read his mind, it could not keep up with him.

Reyn was running all around the Telethia, and continually stabbing it. Dunban was slicing at the beast's legs. Sharla had now noticed us, and began to run over to us. Shulk, with Reyn's assistance, was on the Telethia's back, and was preparing to end it. Even Riki had joined in the fight, and was using his weapon to hit its 3 heads. However, Riki had only gotten its attention for a brief moment, before the Telethia turned its attention towards Shulk. Sharla had finally made it to us.

"Is he all right?!" She asked.

"He is far from all right. He is alive, but his bones are shattered. I'm not sure he can help us in this fight anymore." I told her. It hurt me very much to say that out loud.

"He'll be OK, once he has a little ether in his system." Sharla mentioned.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Did you forget? Slash is part Telethia himself. If he gets a little ether, he'll heal all the faster. I can use some of my ether crystals, but that won't be enough. Think you can lend a hand, Melia?"

"I'd be happy to."

"Then let's make this quick, before the Telethia notices what we're doing here." Sharla certainly had a point. If the Telethia saw us, it would most likely attempt to attack us. Either that, or finish Slash. He was barely breathing at this point. Something needed to be done.

Sharla loaded a cartridge into her rifle, while I prepared my staff. She fired the cartridge into the air, and once it was high enough, it dispersed ether all around us. As soon as the ether reached Slash, I focused the energy into my left hand, and gently placed it on the center of his chest. As I did this, his body had a feint glow around him. The color was a mixture of green and blue. Once the dispersed ether had vanished, I stopped as well. I took a few steps back, and stood next to Sharla. I waited for only a few seconds before he started moving again. His eyes opened ever so slightly. He looked over at us, and gave us a small smile. It didn't last, as he saw the Telethia still fighting the others. He got on his feet, and grabbed his swords again. We turned to face the Telethia, and readied ourselves for battle once more.

Shulk POV

It's pretty hard to fight this Telethia, but after seeing the damage it had done, it had to be stopped. I looked over to where Sharla had run over, and saw Slash was already back on his feet. Melia and Sharla must have healed him already. Slash rushed over faster than I thought possible. He moved that fast when he protected Melia. How was that possible? He ran right up to it, stopped for half a second, and jumped. One of his blades cut the Telethia from the bottom of its neck to the top of its head. Before Slash hit the ground, he threw the sword in his other hand, and it landed in one of the heads next to the one he just cut. The Telethia roared in anger.

The Telethia flew up again to try and gain an advantage on us, but Sharla was shooting it in the chest with her rifle, while Dunban had gotten on its back once again. He stabbed it deep in its back. He then took his blade, and cut off half of its left wing. He then jumped off, and landed next to me. What happened next surprised me. The place Dunban cut off its wings started to glow a little, along with all the injuries it had gotten. Next, the Telethia's wings suddenly grew back, and all its injuries had healed almost instantly. I couldn't believe what I just saw.

"What the?!" Dunban said.

"Dinobeast grow back thing!" Riki shouted.

"Seriously?! Telethia can do that?!" Slash shouted.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Dunban said. The Telethia roared at us again.

"It's no good. My ether shots are having no effect" Sharla said.

"Its regenerative power is too much!" I said.

"So now what?!" Slash said. Melia walked up in front of us.

"It is all right, Shulk. Slash. Destroying the Telethia is beyond us! We should cut our losses and mourn those who perished." Melia said.

"That's not going to happen, Melia. The men that you lost back there… I can feel how close you were to them. How dear they were to you." Slash said.

"Same here, Melia. I know only too well that desire for revenge, and the crushing pain of losing those close to you. I can't stand by and let another person experience what I have." I told her, remembering what happened to Fiora back in Colony 9.

"And I'll be at your side, fighting to the very end to help in any way I can." Slash continued. I then activated the symbol Alvis had shown me, and the blade turned green again.

"This monster is going down! I'll trap him with the Monado! Then the rest of you, hit the Telethia with everything that you have!" I said.

"Than you. Both of you." Melia said.

"Are you ready to finish this, Melia?" Slash asked her. She nodded in agreement. Now the time has come to finish this beast. I know we can do this.

Slash POV

Not entirely sure why I'm standing right now, but something must have happened to get me to wake up. Seeing Melia first thing wasn't half bad either. Not only that, but how am I moving so fast now? It didn't seem possible before. Does this come with being part Telethia? Maybe that also has to do with my healing ability.

Regardless, the Telethia took to the skies once again, and began to circle around us. Sharla was shooting it with her rifle, but it wasn't doing anything to it. And now we have to start from scratch, considering that all of its injuries healed just moments ago. The Telethia was trying to keep its distance from us now. It kept circling us, but didn't really do anything other than that at the moment. It must know what we have planned.

"Shulk. Have you considered how we're going to get that thing to get close enough so you can trap it?" I asked him.

"Um… I haven't really thought that far ahead yet." He told me. That's just great.

"OK. Any ideas? Anyone?" I asked. Nobody said anything. I started looking around, hoping to get an idea of my own. I noticed a tall tree nearby. It reached higher than the Telethia was flying. Now I had an idea. I ran over to the tree as fast as I could. It didn't take me long with my new speed. I reached the base of the tree and thought about this before I went through with it.

"Oi, Slash! What're you doing?!" Reyn shouted out to me.

"Keep the Telethia distracted! I've got an idea!" I told them. I faced the tree, and began to climb it. I used the daggers on my swords to make the climb possible. Every few feet, I looked at the others. Whenever Shulk got near the Telethia, it flew away from him. It didn't really care about the others. As I continued climbing, I looked one last time down at the others. Melia was looking back at me, and she looked worried. I gave her a quick thumbs-up, and she smiled almost instantly. She figured I knew what I was doing, and left me to it. I reached the nearest branch, climbed on it, and waited up there for a while. I hope this plan works.

Melia POV

I saw what Slash was doing. I can't help but be worried about him. I know he's capable of defending himself, but that doesn't change how I feel about this. I looked in his direction again. I noticed he was crouching down on a branch. He looked over to me, then closed his eyes.

" _Melia, can you hear me?"_ That was Slash's voice. I was hearing him inside my head. I closed my eyes, and gave myself a moment of thought.

" _Yes. I'm here."_ I replied.

" _Good. Can you and the others get the Telethia closer to me?"_ He asked.

" _Why do you want us to do that?"_ I asked him.

" _I'm going to try and ambush it. Once you get it close enough to me, I'll jump on its back, cut off its wings before they can regenerate, and then Shulk can trap it so we can finish it. However, I have to time this jump just right."_ Slash explained to me in my thoughts.

" _I understand, and we will do our best. Let us bring this beast down once and for all!"_ I said.

" _Here here!"_ He said, before the connection was lost. I opened my eyes, and saw the others were still chasing after the Telethia. Surprising nothing happened to me while I was speaking to Slash through my mind. Will his plan work?

Shulk POV

Every time I get anywhere near the Telethia, it flies away from me. How am I supposed to trap it if I can't get near it? No one could catch the Telethia right now, and Sharla wasn't really doing anything to it with her rifle. Slash is just sitting on a tree branch at the moment, and not even helping us now. What is he doing?

"Everyone! We must draw the Telethia closer to Slash's location!" Melia suddenly said. I looked back up at Slash for a minute, and saw his swords were ready. I see now.

"OK." I said. I ran towards the Telethia, expecting it to run away again. Sure enough, it did. I got it closer to Slash, but not close enough. "Reyn! Dunban! Help me get the Telethia closer to Slash!" I yelled.

"I understand." Dunban said. He ran at the Telethia, and sliced his sword at it. The Telethia backed away from him, but it still wasn't close enough.

"Ain't over yet!" Reyn shouted. He was close behind Dunban the entire time. He ran out from behind Dunban, and started stabbing in the Telethia's direction. I got closer to it, and it kept backing away from us. I looked up at Slash. He stood up on the branch, and looked like he was ready.

The Telethia was now right next to the tree Slash was in. Slash jumped off the branch, and fell down towards the Telethia. He landed on its back, and it began to panic a little. Slash stabbed his blades into the Telethia's back, trying desperately to hold on. The Telethia was flying all over the place, flipping, spinning, and shaking randomly to get Slash off its back. Slash managed to stay on, but was having a hard time doing so. Finally, he raised one swords, and cut off its left wing, The Telethia leaned on one side before Slash cut off the other one. The Telethia began to drop. Before it hit the ground, Slash managed to jump off at the last second.

"Phew. Can't believe that worked." He said as he ran back to us.

"Neither can I. You're crazy, man!" Reyn said.

"It's not over yet, guys." I said. The Telethia was getting back on its feet. The Telethia roared and started to turn in an attempt to hit someone with its 2 tails. Riki was the only one in its path. He tried to run away, but he wasn't going to get away in time.

"Riki!" Reyn shouted as he ran over to help him. When he got close enough, he used his scrap driver to cut off one of its tails. Riki looked like he had gotten away, but the severed tail just landed on him anyway. It looked like Riki was done here. The Telethia then turned around to attack Slash. I ran up to it, and used the symbol Alvis showed me. The Monado's energy trapped the Telethia in its tracks.

"Now! Dunban!" Sharla shouted. She unleashed every rifle shell she had loaded.

"Bite on this!" Dunban said. He jumped up, and drove his blade into one of its 3 heads. Reyn stabbed it as deep as it could into its said. Slash jumped on its back again, and drove his swords into 2 of its 3 necks.

"Now, Melia! Finish him!" I shouted to her. Her staff was glowing a bright gold. She then slammed her staff into the ground, and all the ether energy she had stockpiled was hitting the Telethia. After a minute, the Telethia began to glow gold itself. Then, the ether energy it had absorbed had betrayed it, as it began to implode. Slash was thrown off the Telethia's back, and had a hard landing when he hit the grass. His swords landed near him. It was finally over.

We all walked closer to each other, and stood there for a moment. We had beaten the Telethia. All we could hear was the wind as it blew. After a while, someone had to break the silence.

"Brilliant thinking. Even thought the Telethia can absorb large amounts of ether and regenerate at an incredible rate…absorbing so much energy caused it to implode." Sharla said.

"Who would've thought? Brute force wins again. Nothing like an old-fashioned scrap. Dickson would have been proud." Dunban said.

"It was the only way I could think of. If there had been another way…" I said.

"Don't listen to Dunban. Soon you and that Monado will be unstoppable." Reyn said.

"Its like at Tephra Cave. It was almost natural, instinctive. The Monado responded to me, and I harnessed a new power." I told him.

"You'll get your chance, Shulk. We'll turn that Mechon into scrap." Reyn said.

"I know. That's what keeps me going. But where's Slash?" I asked, realizing he wasn't with us.

"Over there." Dunban pointed to where he was. Slash was face down in the grass, unconscious. Melia was sitting next to him. Her head was hanging, and she looked worried about him. She was holding Slash's left hand in her own. We walked over to them to see if they were all right.

"Slash. Are you all right? Can you hear me?" Melia asked him, hoping he would respond in some way. "We did it. The Telethia is dead now. Its thanks to you and everyone else that we managed to defeat it." Slash still didn't respond. He was breathing, but it was faint. He didn't look injured. Melia's hand began to glow gold again. As soon as she touched him, his body reacted differently. There were small bolts of ether, shaped like lightning, all around Slash's body. He was absorbing the ether, but it didn't seem like it was helping. Matter of fact, it was making things worse. He groaned in pain, and those groans were starting to get louder.

"Melia! Hold on a second!" Sharla shouted. Melia stopped what she was doing. She moved out of the way to let Sharla take a look.

"What is it?" Melia asked. I wasn't entirely sure myself, but I had an idea. Sharla started looking at Slash's body for any marks or injuries. When she didn't see any right away, she took off his shirt, jacket, and gloves to see if there was anything. Other than the scars that were already there, it seemed that there was nothing else there.

"From the looks of it, I'd say Slash absorbed too much ether energy when he was on the Telethia's back. Now, all that energy is backfiring on him. Instead of healing him like it normally does, it's hurting him. If we give him any more ether to try and heal him, he might end up like the Telethia." Sharla explained. Melia looked horrified.

Melia POV

I did this. I hurt him when I finished the Telethia. I hurt him even more when I tried to help. And he looks as if he had already been through too much. Those scars are too much, but I can't look away from them. I feel terrible. I never meant for this to happen.

"So what can do about it?" Reyn asked.

"Well, all we can do is wait until he wakes up. The ether in his system will eventually settle, or find some sort of release. Until then, we let him rest." Sharla said.

"We had better head back to Frontier Village. Reyn, can you carry Slash all the way back?" Shulk asked.

"Yeah. No worries, man." Reyn said. He picked up Slash, and held him over his right shoulder. Everyone started walking, but I couldn't move at the moment. I felt so guilty. I was the one who did this to him.

"Are you all right, Melia?" Dunban asked me. I didn't notice him until just now.

"No. I feel terrible." I told him.

"Why is that? We defeated the Telethia. The forest is now safe again." I didn't say anything for a while. "It's Slash, isn't it?" I nodded in confirmation.

"I hurt him when I finished the Telethia. I made it worse when I tried to heal him."

"I understand. We'll make sure he's taken care of until he awakens. But worrying about it now isn't going to help. We have to be there for him." Dunban said. He was certainly wiser than I thought he was.

"Very well." That was all I could say.

"Let's go, or else we'll fall behind." Dunban ran to catch up to the others. I ran close behind him. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened back there. When we fought the Telethia, the way Slash fought was unmistakable. The Slash I fell in love with is right here in front of me, and I hurt him. Even if it was unintentional, it was still me who did this to him. I hope you awaken soon, Slash. I want to see you well again.

Sharla POV

Slash got hurt again trying to help us. It was thanks to him that we trapped the Telethia. If he hadn't managed that, I don't see how we could have caught it ourselves. It unnerves me every time I have to see those scars on his body. It just isn't right that something had to do that to him. He got hurt once protecting Melia. We got him back on his feet, but it looks like it didn't last long. And where did that speed come from? I don't think moving as fast as he did was even possible.

He heals faster than normal, his instinct for battle is hard too keep up with, his ability to read minds, and now he moves faster than I thought possible without the Monado. Does all of this have to do with being part Telethia? Shulk told us a little of what they were capable of. Melia did the same. It all seems none of this would be possible if Slash wasn't part Telethia. Could that be the only reason he's alive right now? I wish I knew the answers.

Slash POV

 _I'm back inside that tank. Everything is quiet now. Nothing is really happening at the moment. I'm just sitting there, waiting for something to happen. But what?_

 _I got my answer soon, as the doors opened and those 2 figures walked in again. The female was chasing the other one. She was in a panic for some reason. She got in the guy's way, and started yelling at him._

" _Brother! Stop this! The changes to his body are completely unstable! If we attempt to turn him now, His body will tear itself apart! His body still has yet to accept or reject to changes to the ether in his system we made!" She screamed out._

" _But how much longer must I wait?! Face Diablo is ready for him! The armor crafted to form his new body is ready as well! The weapon I myself took the time to forge for him is ready! We cannot wait any longer than we already have, sister! The sooner this Face Mechon is complete, the sooner the Monado can be destroyed!" The male said. Destroy the Monado? Is that supposed to be my purpose? Am I supposed to kill Shulk?_

" _I know you yearn for vengeance, brother. But I cannot let you do this! He is nor ready for the procedure! Until his body is ready, we have no choice but to wait." The girl continued. The male stood there for a moment in silence._

" _Very well, sister. But the moment he is ready, I expect the procedure done as soon as possible." The man said._

" _I understand." The girl said as she bowed. The man turned and walked out the door. The girl stood back up, and looked at me. She didn't say anything, and just stood there for a while staring at me. Eventually, she walked over to me, and put her hand on the glass tank. "I'm sorry I had to do this to you, but I had no choice." I only glared at her. Whoever she was, she did this to me. Her and her brother. He seems to be the one in control right now. Who are these 2?_

Shulk POV

We made it back to Frontier Village. Slash hasn't moved a muscle since the battle. Melia stays close to him wherever he goes now. Sharla stays close as well to ensure nothing happens to him while he has all the ether energy inside of him. Reyn and Dunban are just talking to each other right now. Riki, although hard to keep an eye on most of the time, was soaking in all the attention he was getting. Chief Dunga has arrived to see us. I wonder what he has to say. Riki turned to face him.

"Chief Dunga! Riki beat Dinobeast! Does Riki still have debt?" Riki asked him.

"No, Riki. Your debts are repaid. However, while you were gone, your littlepons ate like ravenous Orluga. It set Chief Dunga back quite a bit." His littlepons? What was Chief Dunga talking about? Chief Dunga turned to face the other Nopon. "Nopon of Frontier Village! A new prophecy has been told! Our Heropon, slayer of Dinobeast, will further his legend by accompanying the Hom Hom on their travels! And bringing peace to the lands of the Bionis!" Riki jumped in surprise.

"Riki never hear this!" Riki said. Chief Dunga faced Riki again.

"It was prophecised many years ago." He said.

"Chief lying! Chief make up prophecy one minute ago! Riki mad!"

"Riki. Go with these people. For the sake of the village, you must go. My instinct is never wrong." Riki groaned at this. "Do not worry, Riki. Your littlepons will be taken care of." After Chief Dunga said that, a bunch of littlepon walked up to Riki.

"Dadapon! Stomach rumble!"

"Dadapon! Need food!"

Dadapon! Need food now!" Reyn and the others heard this, and came over to see.

"Dada? Riki, what on Bionis is going on?" Reyn asked.

"Friends, meet Riki wifeypon and littlepon." Riki said.

"You have got to be joking!" Reyn said.

"Wife and children?! Riki, how old are you?!" I asked.

"Riki have 40 years! Friends look puzzled." Riki said.

"Not puzzled… Just surprised." I told him. A pink Nopon about the same size as Riki walked up next to him.

"Riki. Oka borrow monies for littlepons' food. Chief Dunga know best! Riki must work for littlepons to have good life." She said.

"Riki will! OK, Oka. Riki happy to join friends!" Riki said as he jumped for joy yet again.

"Reyn happy too! Come on, furball." Reyn said. Riki walked over to us, while Chief Dunga walked over to Melia.

"Now you can return with your head held high, my dear." Chief Dunga said.

"Indeed. Thank you, Dunga. My thanks for your gracious help." Melia said.

"Not at all! Peace has been restored to the Makna region. On behalf of all Nopon, thank you!" Chief Dunga said. Nobody said a word for a while.

"Chief Dunga is very fond of Melia." Sharla said.

"Same Hom Hom, different world. Not fair if you ask me." Reyn said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Slash say she was a High Entia?" Dunban asked.

"Oh yeah! Forgot about that." Reyn said.

"Chief Dunga! Will you kindly grant these Homs passage to Eryth sea? It is my promise to them." Melia asked.

"Without question! These Hom Hom, you, and Slash have all fought valiantly in aid of our village. And a request by you, my dear, cannot go unanswered. I shall inform the villagers at once." Chief Dunga said.

"You are too kind."

"By the way, did you ever see something or someone familiar along the way?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I know you were eavesdropping on our earlier conversation, my dear. Did you ever recognize Slash, or do you still view him as a stranger?" What did Chief Dunga mean by that? Melia blushed a little after he said that.

"Yes. I recognized him. I wish I had seen it sooner. To think that after 9 months of his presumed death, he has somehow returned to me." Melia said.

"That is good, my dear. I seldom seeing you smile nowadays. Now that your beloved has returned to you, perhaps I will see you smiling again."

"You certainly will, Chief Dunga. I suppose Slash told you not to tell me?"

"Indeed he did."

"I see. Until next time, Chief Dunga."

"I look forward to seeing you again, Melia." After that, Chief Dunga walked away. Melia faced us now.

"The Chief has spoken. You should depart for Eryth Sea at once. Prepare your things and see me when you are ready." Melia told us. She then walked over to where Slash was resting at the moment. The Nopon made him a little hammock that was just the right size nearby. Melia sat down next to him, and held his hand in her own. She never once looked away from him once she was there. I wonder what she was thinking about.

Melia POV

" _I'm so sorry, Slash. I wish I had recognized you sooner. I never intended to hurt you in any way. Emotional or otherwise, yet here we are now. And it's all my fault. In my shame, I admit that I would have done something I would have later regretted if you told me once you saw me again. I don't want to see you leave me again. That alone was too painful for me to bear. I won't allow that to happen again. Either you are at my side, or we go together. My heart belongs to you, Slash, and no one else."_ I couldn't stop thinking about such things. My Slash was right here, and I felt he needed my support. But why would he accept it? I was the one who did this to him. Do I deserve his forgiveness? Do I deserve him after everything he has ever done for me in the past, and even moments ago when he saved me from the Telethia?

I truly do not wish to let him go again. I already had to watch as the Face Mechon slowly dragged its claws across his throat. At that moment, I believed him to be dead. There was nothing I could do for him. I had never felt more terrified in my life at that time. The thought that my Slash was gone forever nearly ruined me. I stayed away from everyone else at the time. I barely ate, slept, or did anything for that matter. When I could finally leave from my solitude, I felt so empty inside. I tried to hide it as best as I could, but often failed and broke down. Time and time again, my father and my brother had to comfort me. Each time they did, I felt so weak for not maintaining my mask to hide the pain I felt. That was the first time I had ever experienced heartbreak, and I never want that feeling again.

I only sat there, looking at Slash and remembering all the good times we had. All the times he would take me out of Alcamoth, and show me new areas of the Bionis. All the moments we shared together, and the moments I wished to have with him. Perhaps now, I can make those dreams a reality. But for now, I must take it slow. I do not want to rush into anything I'm not ready for.

Shulk POV

I walked over to Melia once we had all prepared ourselves. All of our supplies were packed, our clothes washed in the reservoir, weapons ready at a moments notice, and flasks filled to the brim with fresh water. It took longer than I thought, but it eventually got done. Personally, I didn't want to disturb Melia, but I lost a game of rock paper scissors to Reyn. How did he guess I was going to pick paper? Never mind.

"Melia. What will you do now?" I asked her. She looked up at me, before she looked back at Slash again.

"I would like to repay you for your help. Permit me to act as your guide to Eryth Sea." Melia said.

"Of course! We'd love you to." I told her.

"I do not wish to leave Slash again unless I have to. But I must warn you. Eryth Sea is vast. Do you know where you wish to go?" She asked me.

"There's a dark tower at the head of the Bionis. I saw it in a vision. That's where I must go." I told her.

"A dark tower? Then we need not search at all."

"So you've heard of it?"

"Heard of it? I have seen it. A dark tower at the head of the Bionis. Only one place fits that description." Reyn, Sharla, and the others joined in on the conversation.

"So you know it?" Sharla asked.

"I believe what you saw was Prison Island." Melia answered.

"Prison Island. Dickson said the same thing." Reyn said.

"Indeed. Melia, have you ever been there?" Dunban asked.

"I have not set foot upon the island, but I know of it. Prison Island is sealed. No one may enter without imperial sanction." Melia said.

"Imperial sanction? That means we'll be needing someone to grant us entry. I've heard that Eryth Sea is home to an empire ruled my the High Entia. They might be our best chance."

"You are knowledgeable for a Homs."

"Sanctions, empires? Anyone help here?" Reyn asked.

"A sanction is permission from someone important. An empire must be a place ruled by an emperor. In other words, we need an emperor's permission to enter the island." Sharla said.

"This emperor… Is he important?"

"Long before we Homs built the colonies… A group of so-called royal-types or imperials ruled our lands. Think of them like the heads of our colony. But with much greater influence and power." Dunban explained.

"Now I get it. Dunban knows more than a textbook!" Reyn said.

"Are you kidding? That's first year Homs history, Reyn!" Sharla said.

"I might have slept through that class… So when do we get to meet these High Entia folks?" Reyn asked.

"You are so… Forget it." Sharla said.

"First, we must travel to the imperial capital." Melia said.

"We'll see how easy it is to see this emperor." Dunban said.

"My promise was to be your guide. I will not break it. I will show you to the shortcut to Eryth Sea." Melia said. She started walking. Reyn picked up Slash, and we started following her. Now we can get to Eryth Sea.

 **(OK. That's Chapter 9 for you all. If you have anything to say to me, send it to me. Personally, I feel like I may have messed up this chapter a little, but I'll let you tell me what you think. Don't hold back now. I won't judge. That's not my job anyways. That's yours.)**


	10. Chapter 10

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey everyone. I'm back with the next chapter. Read, review, and come back next time.)**

Chapter 10

Shulk POV

After talking with Melia, Reyn threw Slash over his shoulder, and we all began walking to the top. Melia led the way, but she also stayed close to Slash. I'm not entirely sure what her and chief Dunga were talking about earlier, but it isn't really important right now. The sooner we get to Prison Island, the better.

Once we reached the top, all we saw was a large lake. Melia kept walking until she was at the edge of the water. I followed, but I didn't see how we would get to the top from here. Next thing I knew, the water started to ripple on its own. Afterwards, the water flowed out of the lake, and formed a pillar that went very high up. Perhaps to the Bionis' head. In the center of the pillar was a large orb, or maybe a bubble of some kind. It surprised me a little, but now I knew how we were getting to Eryth Sea.

"What is it?!" Reyn asked. I think he sounded a bit scared of this.

"Friends, jump in ball! All go to Eryth!" Riki said.

"Jump? In that? You're nuts, furball!"

"You have nothing to fear. This will take us to Eryth Sea." Melia said. She then walked into the bubble. Everyone else followed except for Reyn. He was still a little unsure about it, but he eventually came in with us. Then we started moving up. Eryth Sea, here we come.

Melia POV

After a while, we reached the top, and were submerged within Eryth Sea. We surfaced, and swam to the nearest shore. Reyn had somewhat more difficulty, since he was carrying my beloved, Slash. If he dropped Slash, I would not be held responsible for what came next.

Once we were all standing on the beach, everyone was taking in the sights. This was their first time in Eryth Sea, so I do not blame them. However, Slash still needs to rest, and sitting atop Reyn's shoulder doesn't appear to be that comfortable. I walked up to him, and cupped his left cheek with my hand. I wish he was awake right now.

"Who would've thought that Eryth Sea was right on top of Riki's village? Dive deep enough, you can reach their tree!" Reyn said.

"Perhaps you should try?" Dunban asked. Was Reyn really going to do something like that?

"Might do. Haven't decided yet." Reyn said. He took some time to think that over. Dunban and Sharla were keeping an eye on him, should he act recklessly. Riki stood off to the side watching them. I was staying close to Slash.

"Just hang in there, Slash. I'll be sure to see to your situation as soon as we reach Alcamoth." I whispered to Slash, hoping he would hear me. He didn't respond. Not even a sign of the slightest twitch. I looked around at the others. It appeared no one was looking at me for the moment. I took advantage of this, and leaned closer to Slash. I cupped his right cheek with my other hand. I gave him a small kiss on his forehead. When I pulled away, I noticed Shulk was watching me. I blushed almost instantly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Melia." Shulk said.

"Not at all, Shulk. Is something wrong?" I asked him. He better have good reason for this.

"Aren't you curious… About why we're going to Prison Island, I mean?" Shulk asked me. That's all it was?

"It is not common for Homs to visit this region. You may have good reason, but forgive me. I do not pry into other people's business." I told him. Now the others attention was on us.

"It's definitely bugging her, Shulk." Reyn said.

"How dare you! You clown! I can why Slash has a right to treat you the way he does." I said.

"Keep it up, lady, and I'll treat you the same way I treat him." Reyn told me.

"Melly beat Reyn any time!" Riki said.

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that, furball?"

"That's enough, Reyn!" Shulk said. Groaning came after Shulk said that. Slash was moving ever so slightly.

"Put him down for a sec." Sharla said. Reyn gently laid Slash on the ground. Slash groaned again, and his body had small, golden bolts of energy running across it. "This doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Although, I was afraid of what the answer might be.

"It looks as though the excess ether in his system is causing him to experience pain and discomfort. It isn't doing much, but the fact that this is happening does give us reason to worry. There might too much ether for his body to handle for extended periods of time. It will simply fade over time, but considering how much he took, it may take weeks, or even months before it stops." Sharla explained. It made me feel all the worse, knowing that I caused this pain. I wanted to help him, but I can't do anything unless I want to make it worse.

"So what can we do?" Dunban asked.

"We can take him to Alcamoth. The High Entia there will be able to take care of him while he rests and recovers. However, it would be in our best interest to hurry, seeing as how Slash won't get better as soon as we hoped he would." I explained to them.

"All right. We'll tell you our story later, if you want." Shulk said.

"Very well. I shall listen to your story, but only after Slash is in the proper care." I told him. Reyn picked up Slash, and threw him over his shoulder again.

"Hey, what's that?" Sharla asked suddenly. We all looked in her direction. She was looking directly at Prison Island. The island, much like most of the land here, floats above the water. Prison Island is a tall, black tower with a very jagged form to it, a few chains hanging off the edges of cliffs, and glows blue in certain areas. In those areas, pure ether energy is being released, causing the island to float much like the other pieces of land. Perhaps the ether energy and the water are being repelled from each other in order to float like this.

"Is that…?" Shulk never finished his question.

"You are looking at Prison Island." I said.

"So that's Prison Island…"

"Yes. And that is the imperial capital, Alcamoth." I pointed to the capital to show them. "That is where we must go." The capital appears to be a citadel from the outside. But in truth, the capital is compromised of a large dome, the citadel as the palace for the emperor, and the technology used to make the capital hover as additional, smaller domes.

"It's not just me, right? A floating city is a bit weird?" Reyn asked.

"Built with superior defenses in mind." I added.

"Incredible. What technology makes this possible?" Shulk asked.

"I do not know. And I have never had the need to." I answered.

"You don't know? Doesn't it freak you out a bit?" Reyn asked me.

"You can eat bread without knowing how to bake it. Makes sense to me." Dunban said. Thank you for taking care of that for me.

"You will need imperial sanction to enter Prison Island. But first, we must take care of Slash." I told everyone.

"OK." Shulk said.

"How do you expect us to get up to that place? Fly?" Reyn asked. Once again, I can see why Slash is on his current terms with this Hom.

"There is a transporter up ahead. We can use that." I answered. The transporter appears simple in design. It is nothing more than a small area you stand in for 2 seconds before you are instantly taken to the preset coordinates. The beach we are on has one, along with most of the islands, or reefs as they are properly known as, that have one as well.

"We've been deep sea diving, now we're gonna fly? This place gives me the creeps. But I guess we don't have a choice. Right, onwards to the capital!" Reyn said.

"Still…" Dunban said.

"What is it, Dunban?" Shulk asked.

"It's a sight to behold. Those look like anti-Mechon defense systems." Dunban said. After he said that, Slash acted up again. His body had bolts of ether energy running across it again. Now, there were more than the previous time. It was getting worse. The ether energy is trying to find a way out since Slash's body cannot adapt to this much. With no time to lose, I took the lead, while the others were close behind. We had to hurry to the capital. Shulk needs imperial sanction, and Slash needs to recover.

Slash POV

 _I can only think about what I just heard right now. What I was made to be because of these 2 people. I cannot believe that I am supposed to destroy the Monado, and its wielder. But why? What did Shulk do to deserve this? Was it something that happened before I met him? Something that I overlooked?_

 _I got a chance to see Face Diablo. It was about as big as Metal Face is, and looked fairly similar as well. The face had a metal plate on it to serve as a mask. It had both glowing red eyes, but the right one was scratched out to simulate my scar. The eyes resembled that of a reptile's eyes. It had one single jet that could also serve as a tail of some sort. The jet had some metal covering it, and the metal ended in a few points. The left shoulder had some sort on cannon on it. It looked exactly like the cannon on some Jade Face Mechon. It could be moved to rest on its back. The cannon went from its current position to pointing straight up, then it turned upside down, then changed again to rest on its back without sticking out. It had more weapons than that though. On both hands, even if they look somewhat like normal hands, but made of metal, they had a hidden function. There were straight claws made of pure ether energy that could pop out of the finger tips at any moment. Next to the cannon on its back, it had a hidden sheath for a sword. The compartment opened up, and I saw it was my sword, but bigger. There was another hidden compartment on its right leg. It opened up, and I saw a very strange weapon. It looked like a dagger, but the blade was wide, and shaped like a flame. The handle was smaller than usual as well. However, what I thought was the handle could actually extend. It was just like Melia's staff in that sense. It was not a dagger, it was a unique glaive. Face Diablo doesn't get its name from its appearance. It gets it through it current reputation._

 _Face Diablo is supposed to be completely merciless, brutal, and enjoy bloodshed. Its power is second only to one other Mechon. The golden Mechon. Face Diablo is made not just to defeat its enemies, but to torture them, break them, and kill them as painfully as possible. And it was supposed to be mine. The Mechon appeared to be somewhat more docile at first, compared to other face Mechon, but those hidden weapons suggest otherwise. It was made to perfectly mimic my movements, and improve them as well._

 _There were test runs of Face Diablo, and its capabilities. Those tests exceeded expectations. Every other Mechon or opponent it was faced against was utterly destroyed. All that was left was to put me in there. That would make it nearly unbeatable, since I could now read minds. I didn't want to be a part of this. I wanted to find a way out more than anything in the entire world. But I only have one question that needs to be answered now. Why was I the one chosen for this experiment, and to become Face Diablo?_

Melia POV

After some time of transporting from hovering reef to hovering reef, we finally made it to the central transporter. This transporter acts as the entrance into the capital. It also gets its name from being in the center of Eryth Sea, if you couldn't already tell. From here, you can get around Eryth Sea quite well.

As we walked up to the transporter, 4 imperial guards appeared from said transporter, and walked up to us. They were clad in their usual armor, and had their visors, shaped like a bird's beak, on as well. Their wings reached down as far as slightly below their waists. They didn't have any weapons with them at the moment.

"Who are these guys?" Reyn asked.

"Are those wings on their heads? They must be High Entia!" Shulk said. He was correct. The 4 guards kneeled in front of me.

"Welcome home, Lady Melia." The captain of the guard said.

"Lady?" Dunban asked in surprise. I walked closer to them.

"Thank you, captain. These Homs and this Nopon are my guests. See them safely to the guest quarters. Give them anything they need." I ordered them.

"As you wish." The captain replied.

"Also, this man with the strange hair is of High Entia heritage. He may not look like it, but that is merely because he has lost his wings in battle. He is gravely ill. Send him to the infirmary straight away." I added.

"Understood, Lady Melia." The captain said. 2 of the guards walked up to Reyn, and took Slash away from his shoulder. One carried his legs, while the other held him by his arms.

"Be very careful with that man. He is in a delicate state at the moment." I told them.

"Yes, Lady Melia. We will be very careful with this man." The guard said to me.

"What's going on here?" I heard Reyn ask.

"I have no idea." Sharla said.

"Melia, are you…?" Shulk didn't finish, but I knew what he was going to ask.

"I cannot speak now. But I shall fulfill my promise." I told him.

"I understand." Shulk said.

"I will arrange for an audience with the emperor. Will you wait?" I asked.

"We won't move an inch. Trust me." Shulk answered.

"My thanks." I then walked to the transporter. The guards, with Slash in tow, were close behind me as we were sent inside the capital. I hope all goes well.

Shulk POV

Melia and the guards had left using the transporter. Slash was with them. Melia said she was going to keep her promise, and help Slash get better. I hope the High Entia have something that can help Slash with his current condition. I know the others feel the same way, but I can't help but wonder why the guard called her 'Lady Melia'. What is her position here?

"'Lady Melia', he says." Dunban said. "Shulk, you thinking the same as me?"

"Whatever her position is here, Melia won't let us down." I answered.

"I'm sure you're right." Immediately after Dunban said that, the transporter was used again.

"Huh?!" Sharla said. 5 more guards came out from the transporter.

"More of these guys?" Reyn asked. They all had shields and swords in their hands. Did we do something wrong?

Melia POV

I was transported into Alcamoth. I now stand inside a tunnel leading to a gate. More guards came in, bowed to me, and walked to the transporter. Once they were transported out, I saw Slash being carried away by the other 2 guards. I knew he was in good hands now, but I still cannot help but worry for him. I wonder how my father would react when he saw Slash was alive. But my priorities come first.

" _I must report the Telethia's defeat to His Majesty and request entry to Prison Island. Shulk and the others are depending on me. I must hurry to the Audience Chamber. Hopefully by then, Slash will have stabilized."_ I thought. Although I wasn't entirely confident this would all work out, I was not going to sit back and let this blow over. I walked through the gate, and started making my way towards the citadel.

3rd person POV

On top of a balcony, looking down at Melia, was a High Entia woman known as Yumea Antiqua. Yumea is the 1st consort to the emperor. She acts as his second in command, and as one of his advisers. At her side, kneeling, was another girl about the same age as Melia. She wore a mask, wore black clothes that hugged her figure, and had pink accents in her silver hair.

"You say the 2nd consort's child survived her ordeal?" Yumea asked the girl, clearly irritated.

"Forgive me, 1st consort. I, Tyrea, vow to see your orders fulfilled." She replied.

"Whilst she's in the capital? Do not underestimate the lengths to which His Majesty and the child's loathsome goons will go. How, pray tell, will you avoid the guards?"

"I will do whatever it takes." There was silence for a moment before Yumea spoke up.

"Oh, your stupidity bores me."

"Your Highness, I-" Yumea cut her off.

"Enough of your drivel!" Yumea was not in any sort of mood to even be around at the moment. Another High Entia woman walked onto the balcony shortly after.

"We will have our chance. Once she stakes her claim to the throne." The unknown woman said.

Slash POV

 _Something is off. I can sense it. But I don't know what it is. Whatever it is, it has dark intentions. Are the others in danger? If only my body would respond right now! This is frustrating. I can't do anything. I don't know what's going on now, or where I am even. However, I will find some answers. I just need to be patient. Hopefully by then, nothing horrible has happened. But there's someone familiar nearby. I feel like I know this person, but I can't see anything. I can tell it's High Entia at least, but that's not enough. Who is this person?_

Melia POV

I walked through the citadel all the way to the back of the hall. There was another transporter waiting for me there. There were 2 guards posted to keep watch of it. They kindly let me through, and I was transported to the Audience Chamber. Once inside, I walked up a few transparent stairs, and made my way to the throne, where the emperor was waiting for me. The guards that were stationed around the room all bowed in my presence. When I was in front of the emperor, I bowed as well.

"Melia Antiqua, 1st princess, has returned, Your Majesty." I stated without any hint of disrespect.

"Raise your head." He told me.

"Your Majesty." I said, as I did what I was told.

"The Telethia rained havoc on countless veteran knights. You triumphed where they could not." He then started to laugh a little. "I find it hard to suppress these feelings of pride for you, my kin." He said.

"But, Your Majesty, I failed to return with any of the subjects you entrusted to me. My inexperience cost them their lives." I told him.

"We will grieve for them, but it could not have been avoided. It was their duty and honor to fight beside you. They were all aware of your limits."

"Emperor." That was all I could say at the moment. It did nothing to help with the guilt I felt.

"Keep those feelings of frustration close to you. It will help you to remember the debt you owe to those that have fallen."

"Your Majesty, concerning such debts, there were others who aided me." I told him. The man who stood next to the emperor, Kallian, spoke on this matter.

"The Homs and Nopon, along with the strange High Entia who accompanied you to the capital? They have been arrested by imperial security. The Homs and Nopon reside in their prison, while the High Entia is currently confined in the medical bay." Kallian said. I stood up once I heard this.

"Shulk and his companions?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes. For reasons pertaining to the weapon this Shulk possesses."

"Shulk's weapon… Do you mean the Monado?"

"So it is true. If that weapon is truly the Monado, we will be forced to take action."

"Why?!" I felt this was becoming ridiculous. Shulk and the others were arrested merely because of Shulk's weapon? And Slash has been confined for being with them at the time? What is going on that I am not aware of?

"There is a legend, passed down through the generations. Of a divine weapon – the Monado. It is said that the Bionis itself bestows the blade upon a chosen one. However, if the chosen one is black of heart, he will cause the destruction of the High Entia." Kallian said. I could hardly believe it.

"Among the High Entia exist the good and bad alike. Homs and Nopon are no different. If this boy is the chosen one…" The emperor did not finish.

"The divine seer's interrogation will reveal where his allegiances lie." Kallian added.

"So you intend to keep them confined?!" I asked, slowly getting angrier the more I heard this.

"We must." The emperor said.

"Father! I mean… Your Majesty! I assure you Shulk is of pure heart!" I shouted. Father walked up to me.

"As my successor, you will play a role of great importance. Calm your spirit, and be patient." Father turned to leave, but another guard came rushing in.

"Your Eminence, we have news of the ill man." The guard said.

"Oh? What sort of news?" Kallian asked. Father stopped and turned to face the guard.

"We analyzed the man's body, and found something of great interest. You will have to see this for yourself, milord."

"What do you mean? What is it you speak of?" Father asked.

"The boy isn't injured, but as I said, you may need to see the results for yourself. As a matter of fact, that man should have died 9 months ago."

"What?! How can this be?!" Kallian yelled.

"Not only that, but it would seem he is not entirely of High Entia blood. He is a half-breed, but not like the others, for he is not half Homs." There was silence for a moment before father spoke again.

"Very well. Kallian, you and I shall visit this man ourselves. Melia, you are also welcome to join us. Seeing as how you are the one who brought him here, perhaps you would like to see for yourself as well." Father said.

"I had planned to visit him after we had spoken. I shall join you." I told him.

"I will have a few questions for this strange High Entia when he awakens." Kallian said.

"The man's body and it's functions are currently stabilized. He will likely awaken soon." The guard added. I felt both relieved and overjoyed to hear that.

"Then let us be on our way." Father said. He began to walk with Kallian and I at his sides. 4 of the guards followed close behind as to ensure our safety. My Slash would awaken soon.

Shulk POV

The High Entia locked us all in some sort of cell. It was a very large, white room overlooking the entire city. There was only a large white table, big enough to fit about 50 people. It had just as many chairs around it as well. Why were we arrested? Were we trespassing? Was it because we are outsiders? Or is there some other reason behind all of this?

"Idiot birdbrains! What did we do?" Reyn said. He was clearly angry about all this. "A fancy prison is still a prison." No one said anything for a while after that.

"What happened to Melia? I don't see her locked up in here with us." Sharla said.

"Exactly! She's in on this!" Reyn said. I stood near them, think about what may be going on here.

"Shulk, any thoughts here?" Dunban asked me.

"Melia won't let us down. She promised to take us to Prison Island. And she's not the kind of person to break a promise." I told everyone.

"OK, Shulk. You win. I believe you. And if you believe Melia, then no arguments from me." Reyn said. After that, we just stood around the room waiting for something to happen. We waited for hours, and still nothing happened. Riki was bouncing around the entire time, Dunban was practicing with his sword, Sharla and Reyn were sitting and talking, and I was thinking about what was going on. When the doors finally opened, 2 guards walked in.

"You are to be interrogated by the divine seer. Stand back." One of the guards said. They walked in opposite directions, allowing room for someone behind them. I was extremely surprised at who I saw this divine seer to be.

"Alvis?! What are you doing here?" I asked him. He didn't say anything right away.

"I believe the guards here already told you why I am here." He said to me.

"So you're the divine seer?" I asked.

"Yes. Precisely. Now, explain to me why you are here, and your intentions. Our emperor wishes to know where your allegiances lie. Hence, why I am here now." Alvis explained to me. I started telling him our story back from the beginning. All the way from back at Colony 9 up to where we all are now. It took longer than I expected to explain it all to him, but we have been through a lot recently. When I finally finished telling him, he stood there in silence for a while.

"Well? You gonna say something, or just stand there like a statue?" Reyn asked.

"Reyn!" I said. He looked at me, and shut up almost instantly.

"I see. So that is why you are here…" Alvis said. I nodded to confirm what I said was true. I walked closer to him, before I asked him a couple questions.

"Is Melia OK? We didn't mean to cause her any trouble. And what about Slash? Is he doing well now?" I asked him.

"Rest assured, they are fine. Melia is not in ant sort of trouble, and Slash has currently been stabilized. The real reason you have been detained is not because you are outsiders." Alvis said. Then why were we arrested?

"You don't mean…?" I asked, but didn't finish.

"Yes. The Monado. You see, the High Entia and the Monado go back many years. Millennia, in fact." I couldn't believe what I just heard at first. "Leave everything to me. I shall see to it that you are not held for long. We cannot have the saviors of her highness treated as criminals now, can we?" Alvis said, as he started walking back to the guards. He stopped right next to one of them. "Free these people. I shall take responsibility for their actions whilst they are in the capital. They are now guests of the imperial family."

"Sir!" The guard said.

"I am required to report to His Majesty, otherwise I would escort you around the capital. You may use this room as you leisure. However, I am allowed to show you to your friend, Slash, before I can report to the emperor. Other than that, you are free to roam the city or stay here and rest. Follow me." Alvis started walking again. We ran to catch up to him, so he wouldn't disappear on me again. We walked for only a few minutes before Alvis stopped in front of a door. "This is the room your friend is resting in. From his current condition, he shall awaken momentarily. Now, I must excuse myself to report to His Majesty. Farewell." Before Alvis could walk away, I had to ask him.

"Hold on, Alvis. I need to ask you-" I began, but he cut me off.

"Be patient. I know what it is you wish to ask. Do not fear. You will learn when the time is right." Alvis started to walk away, but suddenly stopped not 10 feet away from us. "You Highness?" I looked past his, and saw a somewhat old High Entia man. Melia was at one side, while another man, slightly older than Melia, was at the other side of him. There were also 4 guards surrounding them. Alvis kneeled in front of them.

"That's the emperor?!" Reyn asked, almost shouting.

"Indeed I am. My name is Sorean Antiqua. I must apologize for imprisoning you all earlier, but I will explain my reasons for doing so later. Presently, I believe we have someone that needs to be seen to." The emperor said. 2 of the guards moved to the sides of the door. The other 2 didn't move from their current spots.

"We were about to do the same, emperor. Permit me to ask. Why are you here to visit our bedridden friend?" Dunban said, sounding a bit more formal than usual.

"I have heard that this young man is a half-breed of some sort. I decided to come see the results for myself, seeing as how my guards cannot seem to grasp it for themselves." He said. What did he mean by that?

"I see. Well, there's nothing stopping you. Even so, you are more than welcome to see him if you wish." Dunban finished.

"Thank you. I swear to you no harm will come to him. I only wish to see him as he awakens." After he said that, I opened the door, and walked in. I saw Slash laying down in a white bed with a blanket over him. His face was exposed, and there were also a few devices around him, scanning his heart rate, blood pressure, ether in his system, and other such things. Melia looked, and ran over to his side almost immediately. She sat on the edge of his bed, and felt for his hand. When she found it, she intertwined her fingers with his, and just sat there staring at him. We all walked a little closer.

"How is he doing?" Melia asked. The young man next to the emperor walked over to the devices and looked them over.

"It would seem your friend has made a swift recovery. All the excess ether in his system has been removed. It is not uncommon for something of this nature to happen. After all, since we High Entia live at the head of the Bionis, where the ether levels are at their highest. Others can often receive too much ether in their bloodstream." He said.

"Thank you for telling us, Kallian. It means a lot to know he will be OK." Melia said.

"However, It would seem this man isn't merely part Telethia. He is actually 50% Telethia, and 50% High Entia." The man, known as Kallian said.

"What?!" The emperor asked in surprise. "How is that possible?!"

"I do not know, but this much I can say. This man still has reserves of untapped power inside of him." Kallian continued. Slash still has more power?

"Wait. So you're saying that Slash's mind reading trick is only the tip of the iceberg? He can do more than that?" Reyn asked.

"It would appear so." Kallian answered. "It also seems there is a match."

"A match?" I asked.

"Yes. We ran blood tests to find out who this mysterious High Entia is. After a few comparisons, we already found an 80% match. Not only that, but we found a few records under Slash's name. It would seems that this man fought Mechon here at Eryth Sea, and died in the process 9 months ago. However, we are still currently running blood tests to see if we can find a closer comparison. So far, there have not. No further records exist under the name 'Slash' as well." Kallian explained to us.

"Interesting." The emperor said. After he said that, Slash started moving a little. Looks like he was finally waking up.

Slash POV

I heard a steady beeping sound. I opened my eyes slowly, and saw nothing but the color white. I felt something soft covering my body. I also felt something on my hand. I sat up and saw I was in a hospital of some sort. I saw all of my friends, and that Melia was holding my hand in her own. Behind my friends were a couple of guards, and an elder looking man. He wasn't overly old. He just seemed to be in his mid-60s perhaps.

"How long was I out for?" I asked. Everyone was staring at me. I had to say something.

"Are you feeling alright?" Melia asked me.

"I feel fine. A little weak, but otherwise OK." I told her.

"That's good to hear. You were unconscious for hours on end. Almost a full day as a matter of fact." Melia said.

"Wow. I was out for that long? Yikes." I said.

"It doesn't matter now. I'm just glad to see you're awake again." Melia said. At that moment, I could feel her emotions. There was great relief, guilt, and passion. I didn't get that last one right away..

"OK. Now, who are my other guests here?" I asked.

"Allow me to introduce myself, young man. I am emperor Sorean Antique. And might I say it is truly a spectacle to see someone like you amongst us." Sorean said.

"It is an honor, emperor. My name is Slash." I said. Next thing a knew, another man by some sort of scanner started talking.

"And I am prince Kallian Antiqua. I trust you are well acquainted with my sister, Melia?" He asked. All of my friends gasped at this.

"You mean to say Melia here is a princess?!" Reyn asked in surprise.

"Yes, she is. And yes, Kallian. We know each other fairly well in the sort time we have met." I said. Melia was the only one who didn't believe the last thing I said. I wonder why that is.

"I see. It is nice to see my sister has made some capable friends." Kallian said. I gave him a slight smile.

" _I wouldn't say just friends."_ I heard Melia think to herself. She didn't realize I was in her head at the moment, but that was a good thing. Something about her is a little off since I last saw her. Was I really out for almost a day? Or was I out for longer than that?

"However, I trust you would will want to hear about your current condition." Kallian said.

"I would. How bad is it?" I asked.

"Not bad at all. Matter of fact, you are recovering quite nicely. Not to mention your recovery rate is faster than I previously thought. You may very well be allowed to leave this room in a few hours." Kallian explained.

"That's good. I don't want to be stuck in here too long. It's a bit too plain for my tastes."

"I agree. I myself have never preferred a place such as this." Kallian told me. I never would have guessed.

"You and I are going to get along just fine." I told him. He smiled at me a little, but it faded quickly.

"There is still more. Are you aware that you are 50% High Entia and 50% Telethia?"

"I knew I was part Telethia, but I did not know I was actually half Telethia."

"I see. Well aside from that, there is nothing more that can be mentioned. I will leave you to your friends now."

"I must depart as well. My duties as emperor must be fulfilled, and I am afraid they cannot wait any longer. Excuse us." Sorean turned to leave, but stopped right in front of the door. "Melia, you do not need to come with us as of this moment. You may spend more time with Slash if you wish."

"Thank you, father." She said. The guards, Sorean, and Kallian all left us afterwards.

"You sure you're doing alright, Slash? That Telethia hit you hard when you jumped in to protect Melia the way you did." Dunban asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. I just need to rest for a little bit, and I'll be out of here before you know it." I told him.

"OK." Shulk said.

"Is it just me, or are you always the one here who ends up getting hurt in some way?" Reyn asked.

"I guess so, but don't worry about it. A little time to rest should be more than enough." No one said anything for a little bit.

"Alright, but you better not overdo it, Slash. I'd rather not see you dead on the ground somewhere in the near future." Sharla said.

"Sure thing. I'll be a bit more careful from now on." I told her. Riki jumped on the bed, and started hopping on my stomach.

"Slash do good against Dinobeast. Slash fast and strong. But Heropon Riki fastest and strongest. Slash is amazing sidekick." Riki said.

"Sidekick?! Last time I remember, you didn't do anything against the Telethia. You just cowered behind Sharla the entire time." I told him.

"Riki not know what you're saying. Riki defeat Dinobeast. And Riki do good job too."

"OK. If you really beat the Dinobeast like you said you did, then I'd like to see you try and beat me in a fight." Riki almost instantly lost his confidence, and looked a bit fearful.

"Riki not sure. Riki feeling tired, and Riki feeling hungry."

"Now you're just making up excuses." Everyone shared a good laugh after I said that.

"OK. We'll leave you to rest. We'll come back to see how you're doing in a couple hours." Shulk said.

"If I'm still here that is." I told him.

"Yeah. Good point." Everyone left, except for Melia. Somehow, I had a feeling she would leave, since she never let go of my hand. She looked pretty upset about something.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. I barely heard her, but I still heard her nonetheless.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked. I then noticed a few tears make their way down her cheeks.

"I'm the one who put you in this situation. When I hit the Telethia with all that I had, I didn't realize you were still on the beast." This next part was, once again, barely audible. "I thought I lost you again." That took me by surprise. The fact that she said 'again' made me realize what I had been missing.

"You recognize me, don't you?" I asked her. She silently nodded in confirmation.

"I wish I had seen it sooner. The way you fought, your voice, everything. But I was so focused on carrying out my task of defeating the Telethia that I didn't really notice it until after the battle. When I saw the scar on your throat." Now I understand her emotions. I sat up in my bed.

"I never blamed you in the first place, Melia. You did what you needed to. I didn't realize what my limits were. It's not your fault. You didn't know it was me, nor that I was half Telethia. There's nothing to blame you for." She looked at me with tears in her eyes. She then wrapped her arms around me tightly, rested her head on my left shoulder, and let the tears flow freely. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close to me. We stayed in that position for a while. Finally, she ran out of tears. She lifted her head up to look me in the eyes. I brought my right hand up and cupped her cheek in it. I used my thumb to wipe away what was left of the tears on her face.

"Thank you. You haven't changed that much since those 9 months. Although you look different, you're still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago." She told me.

"Really?" She nodded in agreement. "I wish I could remember more of my past though. I'm sure we had some good times, right?"

"Too many to count. Whether it was taking me somewhere beyond Eryth Sea, or simply helping me with my daily duties, every moment we spent together was another treasure I will always keep with me." Hearing her say that was amazing.

"You care for me that deeply?" I asked her.

"I always have, and I always will, Slash. You are my one true love. I love you so much, I cannot begin to describe how much you mean to me." My heart started racing. Her emotions were completely in sync with everything she was saying. My emotions were telling me the same thing about her.

"I feel the same way about you, Melia. I'm so sorry I left you. Even if it was forced upon me by the Mechon, I still couldn't get back to you that day. For that, I am truly sorry." I felt her hands move down to my chest. What was she planning this time?

"It could not me helped, Slash. The sword you had could not damage Mechon. There was nothing you could do against so many of them. Especially that Face Mechon that took you away from me." She wasn't blaming me. Somehow, everything she said just seems to make me feel a bit better.

"Thank you." We didn't say anything, or move at all for a few more minutes.

"Slash?" Melia asked me.

"Yes?"

"If it isn't too much to ask…" She hesitated.

"What is it? You can tell me." I tried to reassure her.

"Could we… I mean… Is it possible that we could… Pick up where we left off? I want to be close to you again. I don't want to lose you again." I couldn't believe what I just heard. She still wanted to be with me? She reserved herself only for me? I told her the only thing I could say at the moment.

"That may be the best thing I have ever heard you say so far." She gasped.

"Does this mean…"

"Yes, Melia. I want to continue our relationship together. And this time, I'll make sure we see it through to the end." She smiled so brightly, I thought I would go blind. She hugged me tightly, but not painfully. I did this same thing to her. She back off just a little bit, and looked me in the eye again. She started leaning forward ever so slowly. I did the same thing. We tilted our heads to the right slightly. Our eyes closed when we were about a centimeter apart. Our lips parted a bit, and we kissed just a second later. I felt like I could take on an entire army. I rubbed back a little, while she moved her hands back down to my chest again.

I wish this moment could last forever. I really do.

 **(And that's it for this chapter. Sorry about the wait, but I had a bit of a writers block at 5k words for this chapter. Figured it out though. Read, review, send me any notes you have, and be honest with me. Thank the Bionis I can listen to music from the game. It makes things easier for me.)**


	11. Chapter 11

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(I'm back with the next chapter. No point in hiding the pairings anymore as you already saw. Glad to see you are all liking my story. I still wish the rest of you viewers would say something to me though. I'm feeling some inspiration flowing through me now.)**

Chapter 11

Reyn POV

"What's taking Melia so long in there?" I asked. I've been waiting right outside for Melia to come out of the room for a while now. What is she doing in there?

"Calm down, Reyn." Shulk told me. "Melia and Slash are probably just talking."

"Just talking to each other in there? Yeah, right. I'm gonna take a look." I said, walking back to the door.

"Wait, Reyn!" Shulk said, but I didn't listen. I opened the door, and wished I didn't.

"Uh…" That was all I said. I saw Slash and Melia kissing each other.

"Reyn, I told you to…" Shulk saw too, and it shut him up good. Sharla walked in next.

"Wow. Nice work, Slash." She whispered. Dunban and Riki walked in after that.

"What's going on in… Oh. I see." Dunban said.

"Aw, Melly find love? Just like Riki and Oka. Riki so proud!" Riki almost shouted. Melia and Slash heard us, and looked at us real quickly.

Slash POV

Seriously? I was having a moment with Melia, my girlfriend, and they had to barge in? What is wrong with you people? I felt myself blush after that. Melia did the same as me, but we didn't let go of each other. It was this moment that made me glad I wasn't in a hospital gown. Thank the Bionis they didn't need to do anything like that. It would have made this all the more awkward.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Uh… We were just wondering why Melia hadn't come out yet." Reyn said.

"No, Reyn. You were the one wondering that. The rest of us were waiting, until Reyn decided to burst in." Shulk explained.

"Well, now I know who to blame. When I get out of here Reyn, I'm going to teach you the meaning of privacy." I told him. Actually, more like threatened. His eyes went wide.

"Hold on, man. We don't have to do anything like that, right? Come on, guys. Don't you think it's a bit much for that?" Reyn asked nervously. No one said anything.

"I agree with Slash here. Not only did you come in here without any sort of regard for him, you did so while I was here as well. Insubordination such as this amongst royalty is not well tolerated, and I feel Slash is correct here. You need to learn simple rules of courtesy once Slash has finished his business with you." Melia said. She only made it worse for Reyn, since he basically just looked scared beyond belief right now. Melia used her position as princess to make things worse for him, and implied we could have doing anything else when he barged in the way he did. I put my hand on Melia's cheek, and turned her head to look me in the eye again.

" _You know, I sort of feel bad for Reyn now, but it's his own fault for not so much as knocking."_ I thought, sending said thought over to Melia.

" _I am aware of what I have done, but it could not be helped. He needed to learn, regardless of what has happened here."_ She thought.

" _You are right about that. It's about time someone got to teaching him. And I'm glad I get to be the one who does it as well. How should I go about this?"_ I was hoping she would have some kind of idea for me to go on.

" _Perhaps we should put his punishment before his lessons."_ She thought.

" _OK. But what should we do for his punishment?"_ I felt a bit anxious. She was leaving me in the dark at the moment.

" _How about facing off against one of our strongest in the training area?"_ That was something I could agree on.

" _Who did you have in mind?"_ I asked. I really was curious. But her answer should have been obvious to me.

" _You, of course. Who better than the princess's very own consort?"_ I suppose it made sense.

" _Good point. I'll gladly do it."_ I thought to her.

" _Will you do it for me as well? He did interrupt both of us you know."_ Figures she would think that.

" _I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll do it for the both of us, my angel."_ She blushed a little at that.

" _You used to call me that all the time. Can you say it to me again? Aloud this time?"_ She cutely asked. She gave me the puppy eyes as well. I couldn't resist it. I leaned in, and pulled her in for a quick hug. She didn't pull back at all.

"My beautiful angel." I whispered in her ear once I was close enough. She shuddered in my grasp. I could feel her emotions. She was enjoying this. Maybe a bit too much. At that time, I completely forgot the others were watching us. But I didn't care. Melia and I were here with each other, and that's all that matter's to me right now. Melia backed away a little, and we looked each other in the eye. She started leaning towards me again, and I was doing the same. As we were about to kiss again, someone cut in, reminding me that we weren't alone at the moment.

"Ahem. I hate to interrupt, but doesn't Slash need to rest for now? And don't forget, we still need imperial sanction in order to reach Prison Island." Dunban said. Melia and I pulled away from each other almost instantly. We blushed so much, our faces were deep red. It didn't take long for our blushes to go down to a light pink, but they were still there. We turned to face the others.

"I suppose you're right, Dunban. Very well. I shall do my utmost to see your journey has been fulfilled." Melia said.

"I see. Then, we'll be on our way. You can remain here with Slash if you want, but I wouldn't recommend staying here for too much longer." Dunban finished.

"I am aware Slash needs his rest. I will be out momentarily." Melia said. Dunban nodded in agreement, and turned to leave. The others followed him out, and closed the door. Melia turned to me one last time.

"I'll be out of here in a few hours. I guess being half Telethia has a few advantages." I said.

"Yes. I suppose. I'll visit you once more before you are cleared to leave." Melia said with her composure. "But I will expect us to make up for lost time." This part, she whispered in my ear. I put my hand on the back of her head, and brought myself closer.

"Looks as if I wasn't the only one who was thinking that. Don't worry, my angel. I'll make sure you receive all the love you deserve, and even more than that." I whispered in her ear. She shuddered again. I should stop doing that.

"I will hold you to that. I'll see you again shortly, my love." She said as she exited. Now I'm stuck here in the infirmary until a doctor says I am OK enough to leave. With that in mind, I laid back down on the pillow, and drifted off to sleep. Whatever I see in my dreams next had better be something that doesn't involve the Mechon this time. I've had more than enough of that already.

But before I could go to sleep, a guard burst through the door.

"Your eminence!" He shouted. He stopped at my bedside, and looked around.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Excuse me, sir, but have you seen Alvis?" He asked me.

"He left a while ago."

"What?!" He almost shouted again.

"What's with the tone of your voice? What happened?"

"We received an SOS from a small squadron repairing a transporter at Eryth Sea. But the transmission was interrupted, and we have lost all contact with the squadron!" That didn't sound good.

"Looks like they'll need help. Perhaps Alvis is with Shulk. You know, the boy with the Monado." I told him. They were in better condition than I was.

"I certainly hope so. But thank you for the suggestion." He said.

"No problem. I'd help, but I'm pretty weak right now."

"Even so, we all have our limits." Then he left. But that phrase didn't leave me.

" _'We all have our limits.' I wonder… What are my limits? I've been able to take a lot of damage, but I can tell that's not what I'm made for. Now that I think about it, I know about my fighting style, and my instincts, but not much else, really. Being half Telethia, what am I capable of?"_ Before I could think on that more, I felt something. The same presence with dark intentions. But I still can't see what those intentions are.

" _Who is that? What are you planning? Well, whatever it is, I know one thing. Tired or not, I can't sit here."_ With that, I stood up, and stretched a little. Surprisingly, I didn't feel tired. And for whatever reason, the doctors left my sword on me. I decided not to think on it, and try to leave. I opened the door, and walked out.

As soon as I did, everyone in the room looked at me with either curiosity, or disgust. I ignored them, and hoped Melia didn't see me walking around. But with my looks, I was drawing a lot of attention. I had to get away from them all, I walked outside for a breath of fresh air. It was exactly what I needed. I took a few deep breaths, and thought for a minute about this presence I felt.

" _OK. So whoever this is must be pretty good at hiding. I doubt someone like this would even show their face in a public area. But, for whatever reason, I find that almost… Familiar. Why?"_ At that moment, I remembered that girl from Satorl Marsh. The one from the memories I regained. She had a mask on, and she was a High Entia. Does she have something to do with this.

" _'Can you believe how skilled we have become ever since we began our training?' That was what she asked. Then I said 'You mean after we were born?' So, we've been training ever since then. But what does she have to do with this right now? I don't really see a connection. Unless… Those dark intentions were hers. But… Why would she be thinking something like that?"_ I couldn't stop thinking about who this person might be. But my thoughts kept turning to that girl. _"Did I, or do I still, like her? We did kiss, but… Was it real?"_

I shook my head after that thought made itself known. There was no way that was going to stay in there. I am already in a relationship with Melia, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

I started walking around again, looking at my surroundings. I was about to go back inside, until I heard footsteps. It sounded like multiple people running. I saw a small tree nearby. I took a chance, and jumped up to grab the nearest branch. Once I did that, I pulled myself up, and sat on the branch, using the leaves to hide. I looked through the leaves, and saw Shulk and the others running out. It looked as if the guard took my advice.

" _Sorry guys, but I'm not coming with you this time. I got my own work this time around."_ Once they were gone, I jumped down from my branch, and walked back inside. No one noticed me right away. I was thankful for that. I walked straight ahead, and stood in front of a fountain. Just above the fountain looked like an ancient drawing of the Bionis and the Mechonis in their current position. I looked a little lower, towards the water, and noticed something was a bit off. There was a small spot in the water that was slightly darker than normal. Its not really noticeable, unless you take a good look at it.

When no one was looking, I jumped in the water, took a deep breath, and dived. Even underwater, my vision was almost perfect. There weren't any blurry spots in my vision, or anything like that. Maybe more resistance towards the environment itself came with being half Telethia. But I didn't think on that. I saw a tunnel underneath the water, and swam for it. I swam for about 10 minutes, and my lungs felt like they were going to burst, until I finally saw a light. I swam for it as soon as possible, and surfaced. It felt so good to breathe again.

" _Now where am I?"_ I thought when I saw where I was. It seemed like another hallway, but it was different somehow. The halls themselves were cream-colored, while the pillars along the walls were pitch black. In-between each pair of pillars was a lit torch on the wall. It had an eery feel to it, but at the same time, a sort of familiar setting. I felt like I was here before.

" _What is this place? Have I been here before? It sure feels like it."_ I grabbed a torch off the wall, and started walking. For whatever reason, this may have been the only place in all of Eryth Sea and Alcamoth that didn't have advanced technology. It took about 15 minutes to reach the end of the hall. When I did, it ended with 3 sets of doors, and 2 more hallways going in the directions the other doors were facing. The set of doors in the middle was twice the size of the other 2, but I didn't really care about that at the moment. I only had my eyes on the doors on the left side. Before I cold check it out, I was taken out of my thoughts again.

"Intruder!" I heard a girl shout from behind me. I turned around, and saw a masked girl with large wings on her head, dual rapiers, and black clothing the hugged her figure. I threw my torch at her, but she only sidestepped it. I then drew my sword, split it, and charged her. This time, I was holding my blades in a forehand position. I swung the blade in my left hand. She blocked it, but had to use both swords in her hands. Then, I hit her in the stomach with my left knee. When she bent over a little, I pulled back my knee, and used my left foot for a second blow. She landed on her back, but she wasn't done yet. She put her hands beside her head, and flipped back onto her feet.

" _OK, that was just showing off. But I'll fix that in a minute."_ I thought to myself. I stared at her for a moment, then charged at her again. This time, it seemed like she moved in slow motion. I stopped next to the torch on the ground, put my foot under it, and kicked it at her. She wasn't expecting that, and couldn't dodge in time. The torch burned her right hand, and forced her to drop that sword as she screamed in pain. She dropped the other blade to clutch her hand, but that was her last mistake. I ran up to her, put my sword back together, sheathed it, grabbed her shirt slightly below the neck, and punched her with my right hand. The mask she was wearing made my hand hurt, but it still knocked her out.

I picked the torch back up, and walked back to the doors on the left side. I stood there for a moment, and opened them. I closed the doors behind me, and walked around the room I was in. I used the torch to provide some light for me. I found I place on the wall to put it down, and did just that. When I did though, the room lit up, and I saw everything. It wasn't very big, but it was still had a few things in here. It had a small bed, a bathroom, a few drawers, and a table next to the bed. The table had a few unlit candles on it, and a picture on it. I walked over to it, and picked up the picture.

It was a picture of me when I was a normal High Entia.

" _What the? Did I live here or something?"_ I thought. On the back of the picture was some writing. It said 'In memory of his achievements. We will never forget you. Love, Tyrea.' I just stood there staring at the writing. My mind had a hard time processing everything here. Finally, I put the picture back down where it was, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

" _So they believe I'm dead as well. But if this is where I lived before, I'm not sure I want to remember my past life anymore. And this 'Tyrea' sounds very familiar. But I don't remember her. This is all so frustrating now."_ I got up, and walked over to the drawers. I opened on up, and saw a mask on top of some black clothing. I grabbed the mask, and held it in front of my face. It could see through it, but I didn't have any peripheral vision. I put it down on the table, and grabbed the clothes, and looked at them. A tight, black shirt with a long sleeve on the right side, and a metal shoulder pad as well. The left sleeve was nonexistent. There was a pair of tight, black pants as well. They came with belt. A pair of long, black socks was there as well. And finally, a pair of black boots with metal toes for better kicking power.

Out of curiosity, I swapped into these clothes quickly. They fit me almost perfectly, and although they hugged my figure like the other girl's clothes, I wasn't restrained at all. I could still move around freely as if I had my other clothes on. The shoulder pad needed the belt on my scabbard in order to be used. I took the pad, and noticed a place to loop the belt through. So, I took the belt on my scabbard, looped it through, and put it back on. The shoulder pad covered my entire shoulder, and a little bit of my collarbone. It did hinder my movement, but only a tiny bit. I just couldn't put my arm straight up in the air, but it came pretty close.

I opened the second drawer, and saw a small pack inside. I opened the pack, and something fell out of it. It was a glaive. The same glaive I saw Face Diablo had in that memory, but smaller. I picked it up, and held it in my hand. It felt natural. It felt like it was supposed to be there in my grasp. I looked back at the mask I had put down. Now, I felt confused.

" _Is this who I am? Is this what I'm meant to do? Is this where I belong? Everything here just feels… Right. But what about the others? I can't just leave them. Sure, I go ahead of them, but I don't plan on leaving them. Then there's Melia. I can't do that to her again. I love her. And she's already been through a lot of pain because of my presumed death."_ I didn't know what to do now. I put my other clothes in the pack, and looked at the picture one last time. I was confused about a lot of things now, but I did know one thing. _"Whatever happens now, my life will change. But will it be for better, or for worse?"_ I looked away from the picture, and turned my attention to the mask. I decided to put it on, and take my pack with me. With it in one hand, and my glaive in the other, I walked out the door. If there's one thing I remember about this place, it's the fact that it has many entrances.

Shulk POV

It took some time to rescue that squadron from from danger. However, it was finished, and we were on our way back to Alcamoth to rest. Before we did that, we planned on visiting Slash. It had taken about an hour to fight those creatures. Why they were so aggressive, I'll never know, but it seemed there wasn't another way.

"Man! What a bunch of jokers!" Reyn said.

"Yeah, but it could've gone better. I had to patch you all up more than once, you know." Sharla said.

"Reyn, I did warn you that we shouldn't be careless. But instead, you decided to ignore me, and run in there without thinking anyway. No wonder Slash defeated you so easily back in Satorl Marsh." Dunban said.

"Ugh! Don't remind me. I'm still trying to figure out how to get out of this punishment of mine." Reyn said. I had forgotten about that.

"Oh yeah! When you burst in on Slash and Melia when they were alone together." I said.

"Reyn should feel lucky! Slash and Melly only kiss! Much worse if they were-" Riki said, but Reyn cut him off.

"OK, furball! I don't need anything like that in my head!" Everyone laughed a little at that. Except for Reyn, obviously.

"But still, Riki is right, Reyn. They could have been doing anything else when you jumped in like that. You should have at least knocked first." I told him.

"I agree. Start using your head more, Reyn. You'll get yourself in even more trouble if you don't stop and think once in a while." Dunban said.

"I guess your right. Speaking of, you think Slash is out of the bed by now?" Reyn asked.

"Where do you think we're going?" Sharla asked him.

"I thought we were going back to that room to take a break." Reyn said.

"Not yet, Reyn. We'll take a minute to rest once we've visited Slash. After all, rescuing those people did take some time, and they said Slash would be out in a few hours last time we saw him." I reminded him.

"Ah. Good thinking, man. If Slash is out of bed already, I might take a nap on it." Reyn said.

"We'll see about that." Dunban said.

Melia POV

All I felt was pure joy. Slash and I were together again. All I could think about was the kiss we shared before Reyn interrupted us. It was amazing. And the way he called me his angel like he used to made me feel very special. Although he has lost his memory, I do remember what he had told me. He has been through much in the past. It is why he changed his name to Slash. I truly wish I could tell him why he did this, or where he came from, but it would be better to leave those parts of his past buried where they belong. The last time I brought up such a sensitive subject, the look on Slash's face shattered my heart. I never want to see that again. He truly deserved better.

"Sister!" Kallian shouted, taking me out of my thoughts. Right now, I am in the audience chamber with my brother and my father, attempting to keep to my promise to Shulk and his friends. However, I'm afraid I have not made any sort of progress.

"My apologies, brother." I told him.

"Melia, you don't seem to be focused at the moment. Care to explain why that is?" Kallian asked.

"I'm afraid I have much on my mind, brother. I cannot focus, because I cannot stop thinking about Slash, and why he is half Telethia." I told him. That was a lie, but it was not a complete lie. I have started to wonder why he is the way he is. Just not at this moment.

"I see. We are currently having someone research everything he can find on this man, but no further records have arrived. It's as if he did not exist before now." Kallian said, but I knew why he could find anything.

"That is because you are looking under the wrong name."

"What do you mean by that, Melia?" Father asked.

"Instead of searching under the name, Slash, you would have better luck searching under his original name." I told him. Kallian and father looked both genuinely surprised at this, and terribly confused as well. However, I then remembered that I promised Slash I wouldn't say that name. I wanted to tell them what to search under, but now that Slash has returned, I couldn't even whisper it.

"What would you have us search for then?" Kallian asked. I didn't say it right away.

"I wish I could tell you. I truly do, but I promised never to mention that name again. However, doesn't Slash bear a very similar resemblance to someone we used to know?" I asked.

"'Used to know?' Melia, I'm afraid I don't really know what it is you are talking about at this moment. If you know something about this young man, you must speak, or we may never find out anything more." Kallian said.

"I must agree with Kallian on this matter, my daughter. Please, if there is anything more you can tell us about this man, you must tell us now." My father added. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't speak right away. For a moment, I didn't move an inch, or speak a single word.

" _Wait! Didn't the royal guard mention that they retrieved something after the Mechon had left?"_ I suddenly realized. _"Yes! That may be exactly what they need! They never mentioned it to me, but I still found out about it somehow. Although, I don't know what the item is. Am I on the right track?"_

"Wasn't something recovered in the area Slash presumably died after the Mechon had left?" I asked, hoping they would remember. My father and Kallian looked at each other for a moment before speaking up.

"Sister, are you sure about this? I, personally, am not sure if this will work the you think it will." Kallian stated.

"I understand, brother. But, I am afraid I do not see any other connections."

"Melia." Father began. "If this man is truly who you believe him to be, then I expect you to be ready to make a very important choice when you feel the time is right. After all, I do not desire you to attempt something you are not ready for." He told me.

" _What is he talking about? Does this have something to do with what they retrieved that day?"_ I wondered. Kallian left for a minute to grab the item. All I did was wait patiently, wondering what father meant when he said that to me. _"He sounded unusually serious in his tone. What could this mean? What does this have to do with me for father to say something like that?"_ I was taken out of my thoughts when Kallian had returned with a small box in his hand. It was about the size of his palm. He brought it over to me.

"Melia. What is inside of time took much time and attention to detail to make. It is to be treated carefully, as if it were made of glass. But what I do remember about this is that it came with a note. It is inside. You will soon see why father said what he did." Kallian said, also unusually serious. I took the box from his hand and held it in my own. I stared at it for a while, thinking about what was inside. When I finally opened it, I couldn't believe what was in it.

It was a ring.

The ring had 3 ether gems on it. 1 blue ether gem in the middle, and 2 more light blue gems. 1 on each side of it. They were cut into perfect circles, and gleamed when in the light. The ring had floral designs engraved on the all around it. On the inside, there was a name engraved in it. It was my name. Although it was simple in design for the most part, it was still a beautiful piece of jewelery. I nearly cried when I saw it. At that point, I decided to read the note inside the box with the ring.

 _Melia,_

 _In case I cannot say this to you in person, I had it written down for you to read when the time came. This is for your eyes only, and no one else. Just like no one else makes me as happy as you do. I know the background I come from isn't the best. I am aware that I have made many mistakes in my lifetime. I know for a fact that I am not perfect, and that you deserve better than me. However, after all the time we spend together, I cannot hold it in any longer than I already have. Whenever I am around you, no matter what it is we are doing, I am always smiling. Everything we do together, I genuinely enjoy anytime I am around you. Every moment we shared was a treasure in itself, and I truly hope I will never forget those. And I want more of those moments with you. I realize this may sound selfish, but it cannot be helped. I love you more than anything. More than my own life, more than my own home, and more than I loved my once proud family. I made this ring for you, because I was hoping you would take this into consideration. Melia, will you make me the happiest man on all of Bionis? After everything we shared, will you marry me?_

 _-Slash_

I cried, but I didn't know if these were tears of pure joy, or of pure sadness. Slash was going to propose to me. I knew it was his. I would never forget his handwriting. It may or may not have been that day, but it was going to happen. The fact that he cared for me that much made me so happy, but at the same time, I couldn't forget that the Mechon took him away before he could. That was what made me so upset. While I was crying, I hugged the note close to me, afraid I would lose it if I ever let go of it.

"Sister, are you alright?!" Kallian asked, clearly worried about me. I didn't answer, and just gave him the note instead. I didn't want to part with it. What he wrote was the sweetest thing I have ever read in my entire life. But Kallian had to know. Father walked over to read the note as well. When they finished, Kallian handed me the note back with a shocked look on his face. Father had the same look.

"Melia, do you recognize this?" Father asked me.

"I recognize the handwriting." I told him. Father and Kallian looked at each other once more, thinking about this. Finally, they spoke up once more.

"I can see he cared about you deeply. Even more so than my wife and I. If this man and Slash are truly one and the same…" Father didn't finish the sentence.

"Sister, may I take the items in your grasp for now? I can use those for my research on him." Kallian asked me. I was hesitant, but I gave them to him. "Thank you. I promise you I will find what I can about him."

"Whatever is found out about him will determine whether or not Slash shall receive my blessings." Father stated.

"I understand." I said, trying to regain my composure. There were still tears in my eyes, but I surprisingly managed to do so. I left the room after that, and decided to visit Slash. It was almost time for him to be removed from the infirmary. I wanted to ask him about that note, and hoped he would remember something about it. As I walked out the door, Alvis walked past me. I assumed he wanted to speak to my father about something. So I let him be for now.

When I arrived at the door to the infirmary, I noticed Shulk and the others were already there. The door was left open, and from here, they seemed to be arguing about something. As I walked closer, I didn't see Slash anywhere. I began to wonder what was going on. When I got close enough, I started to hear what they were saying.

"Reyn, calm down!" Shulk said.

"Man, Slash ditched us again! I'm getting real sick of that guy doing this to us!" Reyn shouted.

"Reyn, you need to calm down and think for a second! Slash most likely stepped out for some fresh air, and we happened to miss him. Or he needed to find a bathroom around here. But whatever the reason, I know Slash would not abandon us!" Dunban practically screamed for once.

"It wouldn't be the first time he just up and left without telling us, Dunban! Who knows what the guy is doing out there on his own!" Reyn shouted.

"Riki no like Reyn like this! Riki sure Slash come back! Riki know this! Riki know bird man well!" Riki said.

"Yeah right, furball! I don't buy it this time!" Reyn said. What was happening here made me angry with Reyn for even thinking about doubting Slash. I walked in, and everyone looked at me in surprise.

"Melia!" Shulk said. I looked at him, and gave him a small smile. But as soon as I turned my head to face Reyn, it disappeared. I walked up to him. Although he was taller than me, I could not stand hearing what he said about the one I love. I raised my right hand next to my head, and slapped him across the face. It stung when I struck, but I didn't care, nor did I flinch.

"Never speak of Slash like that again! I know him better than anyone! If he were to ever leave us, it would be through death, and no other reason! You would do well to remember that, if there is anything in that head of yours!" I said with venom clear in my voice. I felt tears running down my cheek after I said that. Reyn's cheek had a red mark on it where I struck. I stormed out, not wanting to be around Reyn any longer than I needed. I went back to the place my late mother had left me for a home whenever I'm not in the palace.

Shulk POV

I couldn't believe what just happened. Melia heard everything. That look of anger and sadness on her face scared me. No. It terrified me. It was even worse that she slapped Reyn, of all people here, in the face. Physically, Reyn may be the strongest out of all of us, but he sure can act like a big, dumb brute from time to time. And unfortunately, this was one of those times.

"Nice going, Reyn! Now you've upset Melia! Do you have any idea what she could do to us? She is the princess after all!" Sharla scolded.

"I agree. Reyn, of all the times you could have done or said something unbelievably stupid, it had to be now of all times, didn't it? I certainly hope Melia and Slash prepare a proper punishment for you once our business on Prison Island is all said and done." Dunban said, getting angry. To see Dunban angry is both rare, and when you see it, far worse than any Mechon. Everyone started walking out of the room, except for me and Reyn. I started to walk away as well, but I stopped. I turned to face Reyn before I left.

"I hope you're proud of yourself today, Reyn. If we lose Slash and Melia over this, we will have lost 2 good friends, and allies to our cause. For your sake, and ours, you had better learn from your mistakes. Because this is the last time." I told him in a low, threatening voice. After that, I left him there, alone with only his thoughts.

3rd person POV

Alvis, at this point, has walked into the audience chamber and explained everything that has happened at his interrogation with Shulk and the others. He also explained a bit on Slash and his current situation with both his memories, and his body. Specifically, how Slash may have become what he is now. How he knew about that, we'll never know.

"And that is the extent of my discussions with the Homs that accompanied Melia here, along with Slash's current situation." Alvis said.

"I still cannot believe it. How could a Telethia have grown to such power? And to think Slash was fool enough to attempt such a feat on his own in order to try and protect the others. Could his story be true as well?" Kallian asked.

"And what is your conclusion, Seer?" The emperor asked. Alvis didn't say anything right away.

"That the Telethia were able to gain such power due to the high levels of ether in the region. In other words, our ether protection is weakening." Alvis said.

"And so it begins. The resurrection of the Bionis." The emperor said.

"And I do recognize Slash. I remember seeing him before he left for the lighthouse the day he was presumed dead at the hands of the Mechon, where we recovered the note, and the ring. Seeing him here again, I noticed the resemblance was nothing short of uncanny. Even if his hair and eyes are indeed different from a normal High Entia, no one could resemble someone like him that closely, unless he is related to him in some way. And last I checked, Slash was an only child without the luxury of being raised properly by his own parents." Alvis explained.

"What do you mean by that, Alvis?" Kallian asked. Once again, Alvis hesitated.

"Slash is without family. He is the only remaining member of his bloodline. A bloodline that I believed to be lost forever, until recently. Unfortunately, this also had a part in making him who he is now." Alvis began to wonder if he should go through with this, and tell them what he knows about Slash from the past. Knowing it may very well get him arrested, and ruin his relationship with Melia as well.

"Alvis, I'm afraid you will have to explain to me why this is. I do not quite understand." Kallian said. Alvis didn't move, or even attempt to form a word, or any sort of phrase.

"Slash… as a man without family… has said to have been raised… by the Inquisitors." Alvis finally said. He immediately cursed himself mentally for actually saying that to them. Sorean and Kallian were shocked to have heard that.

"Impossible! The Inquisitors are nothing more than a mere-" Kallian began, but Alvis cut him off.

"Myth. I am aware, but I'm afraid that you have heard wrong. The Inquisitors are very real, and Slash is living proof of this. Also, despite being the only male amongst them, he became one of their top students. Able to hide in the shadows, and strike down opponents quickly, sparing them any pain as they fall." Alvis explained. Sorean and Kallian looked at each other, both thinking about what they just heard about Slash.

"It may be true, or perhaps just a rumor, but for now, I want you to keep a close eye on Slash. If he really is as dangerous as you claim him to be, we must not let him out of our sight." Sorean ordered Alvis.

"As you wish, you highness." Alvis replied.

"Before you leave, what of the Monado?" Sorean asked.

"I cannot see. My 'sight' is hindered. However…" Alvis paused.

"Speak, Seer." Sorean ordered.

"It is not certain the Monado will bring about our destruction. While my sight is hindered, I have seen a sliver of light. Is Your Majesty not aware of this light as well?" Alvis asked.

"Are you referring to Melia?" Sorean asked.

"Along with Slash, and the young man, Shulk."

"Could it be that the boy is trustworthy after all? And if Slash is a part of this light, then perhaps he will fight alongside us, rather than against us. But this does not change the fact that we must keep watch over him." Sorean paused for a moment. "Kallian, we are the cusp of a significant moment. The investiture ceremony must take place as soon as possible."

"You Majesty. Since the ministries are already in agreement, we may be able to bypass some of the formalities." Kallian stated.

"Indeed. But she must still earn the blessing of the people." As Sorean and Kallian thought about this, the 1st consort, Yumea, walked into the audience chamber. Having already heard everything due to eavesdropping moments ago, she knew exactly what to say.

"Might I suggest the Trial of the Tomb?" She asked.

"1st consort, such a ritual has not been conducted for generations." Sorean said in surprise.

"We have simply not had a need for it until now. And I feel she is more than equal to the challenge."

"Mother, the Tomb is dangerous. Our records show that many potential successors have lost their lives performing the ritual." Kallian said, now becoming worried for Melia's safety.

"That child fought and beat the Telethia. It is my belief that she is more than strong enough. Besides, if it was revealed that she avoided such a responsibility, her reputation among the people would be irreparably damaged." Yumea finished.

"I must protest!" Kallian shouted.

"No, no, no… The 1st consort is right. There is much risk, but the rewards are greater. It would seal the people's love for her. Summon Melia. Her thought must be heard." Sorean finished. Alvis left to grab Melia, while Sorean, Kallian, and Yumea all stayed behind and waited for her. However, unknown to them, there was a shadowed figure with a mask on behind the throne, hearing every last word with his unextended glaive in hand. Slash himself had heard everything.

" _So they don't truly believe I can be trusted. I can't really blame them for that, considering what had happened here. Then there is the matter of the Trial of the Tomb. Yumea is the source of these dark intentions I was sensing earlier. She intends to kill Melia in the most discrete way possible. If something happens to her in there, it will seem as if she had met the same fate as the others before her. Smart, I'll give her that."_ Slash thought to himself. Soon after, Melia had been escorted in by Alvis, and several guards. She kneeled in front of her father, Sorean, while the guards stood throughout the audience chamber. Yumea moved, and stood on Sorean's right side, as Kallian took place by his left. Alvis walked and stood to the right of Yumea. They explained to Melia what they had discussed with the Trial of the Tomb, and waited for her answer.

"I accept." She said.

" _What?! She's really going through with this?!"_ Slash thought.

"If I am to lead the High Entia, despite my mixed heritage, if I am to succeed the throne, then I accept what must be done." She finished.

"I expect nothing less of my successor. The path to greatness is fraught with danger. This shall be your statement to Bionis." Sorean said with pride in his voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

" _You are not fit to be empress. Not now, not ever."_ Yumea thought. Slash had even heard this.

" _If she comes out of that Tomb with so much as a single scratch, I will make absolute certain that you will pay with your life, 1_ _st_ _consort. If anyone isn't worthy is this so-called family here, it is you being unworthy of the position you are currently in. I have half a mind to remove you for what you have in mind for Melia, your very own step-daughter of all people, but that wouldn't make me any better than you."_ Slash thought, sending said thought to Yumea for her to hear. When she did, she cringed at the threat, and the voice that was threatening her. Slash could now feel her fear, and he smirked at this, knowing he made position in this clear. Even if she followed through with this, Slash felt he would take care of everything before she even got the chance.

 **(OK. This took longer than I thought. I had a few cases of writer's block in this chapter, but I managed. We'll get more into Slash's past, along with the ring and other things in later chapters. It will make sense then. It is surprising that I have almost 1.3k views, but only 12 reviews. Don't you people have anything to say to me? My own English teacher at high school is reading this, and giving notes and comments in person. If you have something to say, then please say it. If she can say it to my face, then you can certainly say something in a review, or e-mail. It's not like I'll get mad at you. Anyways, read, review, and I'll prepare chapter 12 for you all in the meantime.)**


	12. Chapter 12

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey guys. Hope everything is going well for you, because they ain't doing so well for me. I'm getting less time to work on this, but I won't stop writing. I plan on continuing this story until the end of the game, and possibly 1 or 2 chapters for an epilogue afterwards. I took some time off to enjoy Thanksgiving, and a friend of mine got me wondering what Slash would be capable of if he was actually in the game. I'll tell you what I got later. Enough rambling out of me, so get back to reading. Here's the next piece.)**

Chapter 12

Shulk POV

It's been a while now since the incident with Melia. Reyn hasn't said a single word afterwards, and Sharla scolded him for almost an hour. Reyn didn't even try to fight back. Does he realize his mistake, and regret it now? Or is he just in deep thought about what happened back there? Even so, I really hope he learns his lesson for once. We've been sitting in our room and resting after helping the guard who sent the distress signal. However, I looked outside and noticed a crowd had gathered in front of the citadel.

"Everyone's gathered outside." I said to no one in particular. Reyn walked up next to me.

"How come we didn't get invited?" Reyn asked. I glared at him when he said that.

"Probably because of what you said, Reyn!" I almost shouted. Reyn looked down at the ground in shame.

"Yeah. Probably." That was all he said. He went back to take his seat, and remained silent. Good thing he did. Reyn is my best friend, and I hate to see him like this, but he needs to learn that there are lines that can't be crossed. One way or another, he'll have to learn for himself.

"It looks like some kind of ceremony…" I said, thinking out loud once again. I wonder what the High Entia have planned for this, but if we weren't told about it, it either means that Reyn had pushed us away somehow, or it was some kind of tradition only for the High Entia. With that in mind, I became all the more curious about it. As I started thinking about this, the emperor himself stepped out onto a balcony that I hadn't noticed before. Everyone turned their attention to him, and waited.

"My loyal and beloved subjects. Sorean Antique speaks. I have been your emperor for little more than 20 years. But today, I stand before you in celebration. I will remain your emperor for years to come. But now is the time to announce my successor. May I introduce, you crown princess… Melia Antique!" Sorean announced. None of us were really surprised, since we all knew about this ahead of time. However, for whatever reason, Melia was wearing a mask. Along with that, she also changed her look. I don't know if the clothes she was wearing were just ceremonial, or something like that, but it seemed important for some reason. The people started talked with each other after Sorean finished.

"My daughter, Melia Antique, will depart immediately to face the Tomb. She will seek the approval of our ancestors and become you crown princess." Sorean added. The people began talking to each other louder, seemingly surprised at what he said. Melia bowed in front of him, and I couldn't help but wonder what this Tomb was, and its importance. After a minute, I had another vision. I saw Melia in the same position she is in now. But then, something big came out from behind her. It looked like a Telethia. She turned around to see what it was, only for it to drain her. She dropped dead on the floor afterwards. Then, my vision faded.

Slash POV

I watched as Yumea walked away from Sorean's announcement. She was halfway to the audience chamber when she stopped. Another girl, wearing clothing similar to mine, came out from behind a dark corner and kneeled behind her. I was hanging on to a pillar that reached above the transporter she came out of at this point. And so I wouldn't be recognized, I kept the mask on.

"The people are fickle. No mask can hide that girl's contaminated blood." She said. She then turned around to face the other girl with the black clothing and the mask. It looked similar to mine.

"1st consort, all of the pieces are in place. Say the word, and the captive Homs shall be no more." The masked girl said. They were going after my friends?

"The savage who discovers fire remains a savage. Disappointed or not, his highness will turn a blind eye to their fate. And their removal will deprive Melia of some powerful allies." As Yumea said that, I saw Kallian had walked in on this conversation, and hid behind the pillar I was holding on to.

"As you say." The masked girl said. I started to really wonder just who this girl was, but she seemed so familiar to me. It felt like it was killing me to find out who she was under that mask.

"Mother?" Kallian asked, but either she didn't hear him, or he said it to himself.

"We continue to endure the contamination of our bloodline by perpetuating this wretched tradition of a High Entia 1st consort and a Homs 2nd consort. For how long must I suffer these Homs?!" Yumea practically shouted out. That made my blood boil to the point where I could just just down and end her here and now. "Do your duty, Tyrea." That made me freeze for half a second. That was Tyrea?

"As you wish." She replied.

"Not going to happen." I said.

"What? Who said that? Show yourself!" Yumea said.

"Come out of the shadows, coward!" Tyrea said. Kallian backed away a little to avoid being seen.

"Very well, since you asked so nicely." I said. I then jumped off the pillar, and landed right in front of Yumea. She let out a short scream and backed away from me. Tyrea put herself between me and Yumea. "I see you did not head my warning, Yumea. How far are you willing to take this?"

"I demand to know who you are! Take off your mask!" Yumea commanded me.

"You think that just because I am dressed as an Inquisitor that I will actually listen to you? If so, then you are a fool." I told her. Tyrea drew her blades, and they were exactly as I remembered them.

"Who do you think you are to call yourself an Inquisitor?" Tyrea asked me.

"How could I not? We were both trained since the day we were born if memory serves me. Isn't that right, Tyrea?" I said, playing with her memories a little bit, and confusing her as well.

"What do you mean?" She asked me.

"Do you know this man, Tyrea?!" Yumea asked, sounding very angry at the moment.

"No 1st consort. I do not."

"Then how does he know you?!"

"Know me? She practically fell in love with me. That is until I dumped her, and decided to court her own little sister. It hurts, doesn't it Tyrea? The fact that you lost me to her, and the fact that you don't even consider Melia to even be a member of your family." I said. Tyrea was now furious with me when I said that, but she managed to stay in control. Of course, after I said that, I started to wonder if I was any better than Metal Face.

"You know nothing about me." Tyrea said with her teeth clenched. She was just barely in control. A little bit more, and she would snap. Fortunately, I knew exactly what would do it. I reached into my pack, and pulled out the picture I found in that old bedroom. Tyrea saw this, and gasped.

"Don't I? I know more about you than you think. Not to mention that you wrote 'love' on this picture when I saw it. You still care, don't you? It's very flattering, but I'm already spoken for, so don't even bother. It's not like you could ever compete with Melia. Compared to you, she is a goddess." That sent Tyrea over the edge. She ran at me, trying to stab me with every move I made. I just dodged every attempt she made.

"You know nothing about me! You know nothing about Slash! And you think that witch could ever be better than me?! I will KILL you for this, you useless, pathetic, insignificant TRAITOR!" Tyrea screamed. I kept dodging her every move. In her anger, she got very sloppy, making it all the easier to avoid her. Maybe I took things too far with this. But ignoring that at the moment, I grabbed Tyrea's wrists when she tried to stab me again. I then pushed her against the nearest wall. I looked over, and saw Yumea didn't move an inch. "Let me go!" Tyrea started shouting. She began to struggle, but she couldn't get away from me. I moved one of her hands, so I could hold them both with one hand.

"Maybe you need a little memory refresher. Then, you will better understand." I told her. She just kept struggling, but wasn't getting anywhere with that. I used my free hand to slowly remove my mask. As soon as it came off, I heard Yumea gasp. Tyrea didn't even look at me right away as she kept struggling.

"You! I remember you!" Yumea said. I turned to face her. "You may look different now, but I know your face! You were one of our best students! Then you disappeared for 9 months. Now you return, only to turn on us! Why?" Yumea asked. Tyrea finally looked at me. I turned to looked her in the eye, but couldn't do so while her mask was still on. I used my free hand to take hers off as well. As soon as it came off, I could see her shocked expression, trails of tears on her face, her blue eyes turned red from crying, and the emotions from the display alone.

"How can this be?" Tyrea whispered.

"The Mechon that day never killed me. They captured me and made me what I am now. I am half High Entia, and half Telethia thanks to them." I explained. I let her go, and she just dropped to the ground in disbelief. I faced Yumea again, and glared at her. "If you go through with this plan of yours, I will not hesitate to find you, and end you. You will stay away from Melia and my friends, or else. The offer extends to Tyrea as well. The Inquisitors may have raised me, but I am not one of them. You would do well to remember that." I picked up my mask, put it on, and ran out of there. I decided to leave the picture there for them. I wonder what will happen now.

Tyrea POV

" _How can this be? Was that really him? He is still alive? He knew exactly what to say. He toyed with my emotions and my memories to get the better of me, and it worked. I lost it. How could I have fallen for that?"_ I thought. I didn't move after he had left, thinking about everything that had just happened. I couldn't believe what I just saw, and I would have denied it if Yumea hadn't also seen it. He was very real, and I couldn't let go of him. Hearing what he said made me furious at first. Then, once I saw his face, I felt guilty, overjoyed, even more furious, and mostly confused.

"Tyrea!" Yumea shouted at me, taking me away from my thoughts. I got up, and ran over to her.

"1st consort." I replied once I was in front of her.

"This will not deter us. Whether or not this man interferes is of no consequence. If he shows himself again, I want you to end him for this. Traitors don't deserve the right to breathe." She ordered me. The last sentence sounded especially cold and cruel. I could tell she wasn't remotely happy with this. She was already upset with the mere mention of Melia. This only made things worse.

"As you wish. I will see to it that it is done." I told her. I was determined to see this through.

"You had better. Either you come back with their heads, or don't come back at all." She then walked away. She was starting to scare me.

" _What am I going to do? I don't stand a chance against him if I lose it like that again. Wait. That may not have been him. His hair was different, and so were his eyes. He also didn't even try to fight back. The Slash I knew would always be up for a match with me, regardless of situations or conditions. But 9 months can change a man, so I'll let him have that. Still, even if he toyed with my memories, he didn't say much about them. Nothing specific. This couldn't be Slash. This was nothing more than a thief, desperate for survival."_ I thought to myself. Now that I had convinced myself that is wasn't really Slash, I knew I could finish him off. I moved back to tell the others that the plan will be executed. Before I left, I picked up the picture he left behind, and saved it for later. I will not let it out of my sight again.

Slash POV

" _So Tyrea thinks it wasn't me? At least I know she won't hold back when we see each other again. But I shouldn't talk to her like that again. I sounded like Metal Face when I taunted her like that. I made fun of her loss, her emotions, and her memories. Since when am I so cold-blooded? Does it have to do with the fact that I was once an Inquisitor?"_ I thought as I stayed hidden in the shadows. I had a feeling Yumea would ignore me, and continue with her plans. Now, I have no choice but to put her allies to the blade. Tyrea included.

Kallian POV

After they had all left, I just stood there, trying to take in what just happened. Slash seemingly jumped out of nowhere, This 'Tyrea' has orders to assassinate Melia, mother gave her said orders, Slash was once one of them, and now he is wanted dead by them. I kept thinking about everything I had seen and heard, but it just didn't seem right. I don't know what piece of Slash's history I am missing right now, seeing as how I only have a few small ones. But now, I have to find out. I walked back to the audience chamber, and pretended nothing had occurred at that time, but it never left my mind. It was eating away at me to find out what was at play here. One way or another, I am going to find out.

Shulk POV

"Melia…" I said, thinking out loud again. Whatever this Tomb was, I was a bit worried about her ,but its not like she's defenseless. But I am more curious about the mask she wore, and why she didn't speak. Why would she keep her face hidden from everyone out there?

"I don't doubt that was Melia, but why the mask?" Dunban asked. At least I wasn't the only one here who was thinking about it.

"I don't know… But she's different from the other High Entia." I said.

"How do you mean?" Sharla asked.

"Melly not like other Bird People. Melly like Hom Hom friends." Riki said.

"You are right. She is half Homs. But there are things at play here we can't understand." Dunban said. After he said that, I remembered the vision I had.

"Wait a minute!" I shouted in panic. Everyone almost jumped.

"You'll give a Homs a heart attack shouting like that." Reyn said. Personally, I didn't think he'd be talking for the rest of the day.

"We've got no time to lose! Melia needs our help!" I told them.

"Again? You had another vision, didn't you?"

"What did you see?" Sharla asked me.

"Out with it already!" Reyn said. After he said that, the door to our room opened. We looked over, and saw 5 girls, all wearing masks and red clothing, running in. They all had blades in both hands. Their blades were perpendicular with the hilt. Past the hilt, not 1 but 2 blades formed on each one. There was some space between the 2 blades, similar to Slash's sword, but a bit wider. With the unique design of the blades they held, they didn't have to adjust their wrists to hold their blades.

"Excuse me. We ordered room service an hour ago." Dunban said. I wasn't sure if he really meant that, or if was just being sarcastic.

"I'm afraid you've already eaten your last meal." One of them said. Now I knew why they were here. I also knew that the Monado wouldn't be able to cut them, so I couldn't fight with my friends this time. But that didn't mean I couldn't use the Monado to support them. We all drew our weapons, and the door opened again. This time, a man with a glaive ran in.

"Sorry I'm late. But this is something I don't want to miss." He said. It looks like he may be their leader. The 5 girls turned around and saw him. Then, they turned their attention back to us. However, that man sounded familiar to me, but the mask was messing with his voice a little. One of the girls charged at us, forcing me to focus on the upcoming battle ahead. However, when she was 3 feet away from us, a blade suddenly thrust out of her throat. It came back out, and she fell on the ground, dead. Behind her was the man with the glaive, which now had blood on the blade.

"Traitor!" The other 4 girls shouted. They started running towards us, but we didn't move right away.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?" The man asked us. After he said that, Dunban and Reyn charged past him towards the girls. Sharla stayed behind to better use her rifle, while Riki just hid behind her again. I stayed close to her, since I couldn't really do anything with the Monado at the moment. However, I'll still help out in any way I can.

Slash POV

As soon as I ran into Shulk and the others, I knew I was gonna have to explain once this mask came off. But seeing as they were being ambushed, I felt I needed to help. Although, that first kill wasn't easy for me. I felt like I truly was a traitor for a moment, but my friends were more important than a few killers. I also felt different while wearing this mask, but that might have been just me.

Dunban and Reyn ran into the fight, so I decided to do the same. They each got 1 girl to fight, and I got the other 2. They did see me as a traitor. After all, they did just shout it out for the world to hear a second ago. They weren't really doing much, other than trying to stab me everywhere I go. It seems their blades are only effective when used for stabbing, and they must have known it. I kept moving, but they were very close, and their blows were only getting closer. They had gotten faster since I last remember. A lot faster at that. With that, I suppose its a good thing I made Tyrea mad. If she wasn't sloppy, I may not have come out unscathed.

I started using my glaive to block them. At some point, I began to get annoyed with this. Getting the occasional burst of speed, I tripped them using the blunt end of my glaive. When they hit the ground, I kicked them away from me. If they survived, they would have some serious bruises on their stomachs. They flipped back onto their feet, showing off like that last girl, and ran at me again. But this time, my speed hadn't wore off yet. While it seemed like they were still moving in slow motion, I ran at them, and used the blade on my glaive to cut their wrists. It forced them to drop their weapons, and I took it a step further after that, by cutting off their hands entirely. They screamed out in pain, and backed away from me, but I wasn't done yet.

I held my glaive in my right hand, near the blade. The blunt end was away from my body, so I could use it like a stick or something to hit them with from some distance. I closed whatever distance I had between one of them, flipped the glaive, and plunged it deep into her heart. Just the very tip came out of her back. I ripped it out, and made a move to the other girl. I flipped the glaive again, and using the blunt end, I smacked her across the face with it. Even while wearing the mask, it still confused her a bit. I then got right in front of her, and punched her in the face with my left hand. My speed kicked in again, and I continued. I grabbed her shoulder with my left hand, made her lean over, and kneed her 3 times. First in the stomach. Secondly, the neck. And finally, the head. I let her go, and kicked her away. She didn't lose her balance though, so I kept going. I ran close to her again, swept her feet out from under her. I used the spin from the sweep to make a complete 360. Before she hit the ground, I kicked her up a little, then used my knee once she was high enough to make her go higher. I took away my knee, and used the blunt end of my glaive to smack her down into the ground. She landed on her back hard. I kicked her away from me, and she rolled across the ground. My speed had worn off, but I didn't care. I jumped, flipped the glaive to use the blade, and sent it into her heart as I was landing before she could get away. I pulled it out, and made the glaive go back to its shorter, more portable form. I looked at the others, and saw they had killed the other 2.

I held the glaive in my hand, and waited for something to happen. The only thing that was going on was the fact everyone was staring at me. They were all thinking about who I was, and whether or not I was friendly, or another assassin like these girls. I expected Reyn to run straight at me, but strangely he didn't. Was he actually thinking for once?

Shulk POV

I saw what he did to the others. He was truly brutal. He cut off their hands, and beat that one girl so fast, I could barely see it until the end. I wasn't sure what his expression was under that mask, but I'm fairly certain it didn't bug him at all. Although Reyn and Dunban killed the other 2, at least those were quick and painless. He basically tortured them a little before finishing them.

" _How could anyone do something like that? I don't understand how anyone could be so relentless and merciless in such a way. Doesn't that disturb him in any way?"_ I thought to myself. I kept asking myself how he couldn't be sick, or if he even felt guilty from that for a minute. But he didn't do anything, or make even the slightest gesture that he felt bad. I don't know if he welcomed death, or if he just didn't care at all. It just feels like after what he did, you'd think he would feel guilty about that. He kept looking at us, and didn't say anything for a while. I then noticed something on his back that I hadn't seen before. A scabbard. He had a sword on his back, but I didn't see the actual blade.

"You guys just gonna keep staring at me, or are you gonna go save Melia?" The man asked us. He moved a bit when he talked. I saw the blade then. It was Slash's sword. His voice also sounded familiar, but I just couldn't place it, because of that mask.

"What are you doing with Slash's sword?" I asked him. Everyone gasped and looked closer at him. They saw the sword, and readied their weapons. I did the same with the Monado. Even if I couldn't hurt him, I could still support my friends.

"Is that really important right now? Or does the princess take priority? I know of your ability to see into the future. Don't you think we should get moving before Melia falls victim to fate?" He asked us, dodging the question. He did have a good point, I will admit that. However, Slash is also important.

"After you answer our questions. "Who are you, and why do you have Slash's sword?" I asked him again. He didn't move for a minute. Then he sighed.

"I suppose I'll have to explain, but not right away. However, I can do this much." He said. He attached the glaive to the strap across his chest once he had shortened it. He reached up, and I assumed he was going for his sword. Reyn charged at him, thinking the same thing. The man sidestepped him, and tripped him. Reyn got back up, and tried again, but this time was worse. The man jumped on his shield, flipped over it, and grabbed the back of Reyn's neck with one hand as he was landing.

"How did you-" Reyn started, but the man cut him off.

"Don't make assumptions until after I've finished." He pushed Reyn back to us, and moved his hand again. He then grabbed the mask, and took it off. When it hit the ground, we all gasped again.

It was Slash.

Slash POV

Everyone looked at me with complete shock. I knew that was going to happen, but I also knew we were running out of time. Melia was in danger. Yumea ignored my warning again, and Tyrea seems more than happy to end her life. I won't let that happen, but I need my friends to help me. The Inquisitors have gotten stronger since I last saw them. I wouldn't last too long against them. I'll start off strong, but they'll catch up to me in mere moments.

"Look guys. I can explain everything, but now is not the time. Shulk, you and I both know Melia is in danger. We need to help her now!" I told him. He snapped out of his shock with that, and nodded in agreement.

"Right!" Shulk said to me. After he said that, the door opened again. Alvis walked in this time around. The only reason I know him is because I got it from Shulk through his mind.

"Shulk!" He said.

"Will someone explain to me who these guys are?!" Reyn shouted out.

"I can." Everyone looked at me, including Alvis. "They are Inquisitors."

"How can this be?!" Alvis asked. The door opened again. This time Kallian walked in. He had 2 guards with him.

"What is this?" He asked. He walked over to me. Alvis looked over at him.

"Your Highness." Alvis said. "Do not concern yourself. It appears the matter has been resolved."

"Seer Alvis." Kallian replied. He didn't look away from me. He knew my face, and he knew what happened between Tyrea and I.

"I foresaw the danger. I rushed here, but seemed to have missed the fun." Alvis said. That honestly surprised me for a second. Kallian finally looked away from me, and towards the dead girls.

"They do not look like mere thieves." Kallian said.

"That is because they are Inquisitors of the Bionite Order. Once, a group of assassins long devoted to the imperial family." I said.

"Ridiculous. The Bionite Order are a mere-" Kallian said, but I cut him off.

"Myth. The order existed before records began. But do not mistake us for nothing more than tales. There are very few of us, but we have not died out, like many others believed. I am living proof of that, as these girls are only added proof." I explained.

"Is father aware of this?!" Kallian asked me.

"No. We Inquisitors live in the shadows. Your father would know very little if he even knew of our existence. It is supposed to be kept from your father. It was also believed to be nothing more than a simple job. Shulk and his friends were to die first, so Melia would lose some valuable allies. Now, she is to be killed in the tomb, and it will be mistaken for her being unworthy of the throne."

"That explains why they would attack these people, but why wear the masks? And why are they going after my sister?!"

"We are never supposed to show our real faces. Also, Your mother, Yumea, despises Melia only for the fact that she is half Homs. She thinks Melia's blood is contaminated, and needs to be removed. She feels that because of this, Melia will never be fit to rule. You know this to be true, Kallian. You saw it with your own eyes." Kallian took a minute to think about it.

"Was that really… Could it actually be true? No! There's no way!" He said. He was realizing it, but trying to deny it.

"Kallian! Melia really is in danger! Slash is telling you the truth! Melia will be killed if we don't find her soon!" Shulk jumped in.

"Killed?! How can you be so sure?! I cannot believe you, seeing as how you are one of them, but how on Bionis could you possibly agree with him?!" Kallian asked, panicking that I was really telling the truth.

"Shulk and I share the same gift." Alvis said.

"Another seer. Which would mean that… You can see the future?!" Kallian asked.

"And I can read minds. I have also seen this vision through Shulk's eyes as well. Being half Telethia does give me some advantages." I added.

"That's why we have to find her!" Shulk said.

"Now!" Shulk and I said at the same time. I was starting to panic myself. We were running low on time, and this is only slowing us down. Melia may very well already be in the Tomb, and she is going to die down there. I don't want to lose her again.

Melia POV

I am standing in front of the entrance into the Tomb. I have my mask on, and my staff ready for when I need it. With me, there are 2 guards, and a woman named Lorithia. She is another loyal subject to my father. Her appearance makes her seems no older than 30 years to a Homs. She wears a sort of dress that also functions as armor. Although I believe it is merely to make her seem a bit more intimidating. There are parts the show some of her skin, such as her right thigh, and her shoulders.

I feel I am truly prepared for this task. However, the fact that other potential successors have died during this trial worries me a little. I want to make sure I come back, and see Slash again. Still, I know there is no guarantee that I will come back out once I enter. If I manage to complete the trial, I will take that note, and the ring I found to Slash. Maybe seeing those will bring back a few memories.

"Your Highness. As agreed, you will face the ritual alone." Lorithia said to me.

"Thank you for escorting me." I told her.

"We wish you a safe return. As history has proven, all those who stake claim to the throne without merit will spend eternity as fallen spirits." Lorithia told me. What she said sent a very cold chill running down my spine. But it will not stop me.

"I must prove my worth as the next ruler. And I am no less prepared to sacrifice my life than those that have fallen before me." I replied. I was scared to die in there, but I could not show it. I had to remain strong for my people, and more importantly, for Slash.

"Most wise, your Highness." Lorithia said. "Watch you back, you Highness." She said as I finally entered. I truly hope that I will see Slash again.

Slash POV

Everyone waited for Kallian to make a decision. Since he is the prince, he currently has the authority on whether or not we are allowed to go after Melia. We did just explain everything to him, and I just did most of it. Ever since I came here, I have slowly, almost unknowingly, been regaining memories. It is clear I have lived here for most of my life, but I still have some unanswered questions.

"Unacceptable. Those who enter the Tomb must do so alone. Her life, or death, is in the hands of fate. Those not worthy of the throne are exactly that." He said, without any sort of emotion. I couldn't believe that. He wasn't even going to try to save her.

"You can't seriously think that? This is your sister! This Melia!" Reyn said.

"As much as I hate to say it right now, he has a point. I will not stand here and let the girl I love die in there!" I shouted. I felt my face heat up after I said that, considering I said that in front of everyone here.

"Easy, you 2." Dunban said. I instantly listened.

"But Dunban!" Reyn tried to argue, but Dunban continued.

"This ritual holds a special significance. It is wrong for us to interfere."

"I don't like it!" Reyn said. But this time, I didn't say anything. What was Dunban up to?

"But am I right in saying that the rules of this ritual affect only the High Entia? And if some strange Homs happened to get involved, it wouldn't cause a problem? Or is there some rule that prohibits Homs from entering the Tomb?" Dunban said. I smirked at his logic. He saw a loophole in this ritual.

"No, I suppose not." Kallian said. Dunban had him there.

"Then look at it this way. I don't need to know how big a deal this ritual this is to your people. What I do know is that your sister's life is at stake. Cut us a break, and we'll save her." He finished.

"Please, Kallian. I don't want to lose her again." I muttered, but it was loud enough to be heard. Kallian walked up to Dunban after I said that.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"My name is Dunban. I'm sort of the protector of this Mechon-bashing band of Homs."

"Dunban. I know you. At the battle of Sword Valley, you held back an entire wave of Mechon with the Monado." How did Kallian even know that? The High Entia haven't gotten involved with anyone other than the Nopon directly below them until we ran into Melia. Dunban also caught wind of this.

"You know a lot about a battle you never showed up to."

"My apologies. We do not concern ourselves with the wars of others. Be it against the Mechon or otherwise."

"I was only joking. You had your reasons. I can see that with all these defense systems, you don't really need to fight."

"But you may need to start, considering that your defenses failed, and I was presumed dead 9 months ago." I threw in there. No one spoke for a moment.

"Then it is decided." Alvis suddenly said. We all looked over at him." You can reach the Tomb by transporter from the Center Gate. Her Highness has already entered. Shulk, you should hurry." Shulk nodded in agreement once more. We all started running for the door.

"Wait!" Kallian shouted. We all stopped and looked at him. "Slash, if you speak true, then please take care of Melia when you get there." I nodded to him, and we all started running again, leaving Kallian behind. We used the transporter, and kept running. Shulk changed his pace to run alongside me.

"What is going on, Slash? Ever since we came here, you've been a bit more closed off, and cruel in a fight. Why?" Shulk asked me. Everyone was paying attention to me now.

"I told you I would explain later. Right now, we need to save Melia." I said. Sharla ran to my other side.

"What did you mean when you said that you can't lose her again?" Sharla asked. I hesitated.

"Well… Melia and I have a history together. I remember I was going to surprise her with something the day I 'died', but I don't remember what I was going to surprise her with. We have been together for years, I know that much. Plus, seeing as how we High Entia live longer than Homs, we know each other very well." I said.

"How old are you, exactly?" Sharla asked.

"93 years old, I think. My birthday may have already passed. Melia is 2 years younger than me." I answered.

"Doesn't that make you a bit old for her?" Reyn asked.

"No. High Entia live 5 times longer than Homs. If I was 5 years older than her, I would only appear to be 1 year older." I explained. Good thing we were talking a bit, It makes the run seem shorter than it really is.

"Wow. I didn't realize that." Shulk said.

"Think on it later, Shulk. We need to get to the Tomb." I reminded him.

"OK." he said. We reached the next transporter, and used it. We came out inside the Center Gate. This was the place where the guards met up with Melia when she returned. How do I know that? Well, I'm not entirely blind or deaf, even when I'm unconscious. My mental state isn't downgraded, and it allows me to explore a little. But that's the only thing I remember.

"OK. Which way do we go?" Reyn asked me.

"Don't ask me. I may remember fragments, but I don't remember everything." I told him.

"Over there." Alvis spoke up. Wait. When did he decide to come with us? Anyway, he pointed over in the direction of what looked to be a large, white wall. I honestly assumed it was a dam or something.

"How are we going to get over there?" Sharla asked.

"There is a transporter nearby. I will take you to it, but we must hurry. As Slash said, time is of the essence." Alvis said. We all nodded, and let Alvis take the lead. He took us to a set of stairs I hadn't noticed before. We ran down them, and looked around for a minute. We saw a transporter facing the Tomb, and took it as soon as we could. We came out on the other side, and I found myself sight-seeing a little.

"So this is the Tomb?" I asked.

"Yes. Defensive measures prevent intruders from entering. You will have to circumvent these in order to move within the Tomb." Alvis explained.

"One thing before we enter. Alvis, you can see the future, like me?" Shulk asked.

"I am from a long line of seers dedicated to serving the imperial family. My visions help to protect the empire."

"But you're a Homs…" Shulk, I don't really see what that has to do with it.

"Yes. But that is for another time. My ancestry is not easily explained. And my ability to see the future is equally complicated. You might say I have my own ritual. Is it not the same for you?"

"No. My visions appear suddenly, without warning. At first, they're obscure. Then as it gets closer to the event, I start to understand."

"It seems you possess a power greater than I. I still have not seen any danger befall her Highness."

"Not much use as a seer then, are you?" Reyn jumped in.

"Nothing passes you by, does it? Now you see why I asked for your help. What a lucky coincidence that I happened to see you in danger." Alvis replied.

"A coincidence?" Reyn asked.

"But I've seen you use the Monado!" Shulk added.

"The Monado has been passed down the imperial line for generations. The sword of the Bionis. It is compelled to do its master's bidding. Magnified greatly, it has the power to control the very fabric of our world." Alvis said.

"Ether." I said.

"Correct. Control the ether, and your will is made into reality. I willed it, and it happened. That is all. Perhaps due to that power, the High Entia sealed away the Monado for centuries. Eventually, it found its way into the hands of the Homs, and then you, Shulk. A coincidence, or something more? You must discover this yourself. For you are the one who wields the Monado. The Bionis is stirring." Alvis explained. He seems to know a lot about the Monado, and its capabilities. Not only that, but he seems to be very interested in Shulk.

" _Curious. Alvis is wise beyond his years as a Homs. I'm not sure if the emperor even knows that much. Alvis seems to be a greater mystery than my own past. It also seems he is hiding something. I don't really believe that it was coincidence that he saw Shulk and the others in danger. Nor the fact that Shulk now wields the Monado. I don't know who you are, Alvis, but I intend to find out. However, now is not the time. I need to focus on helping Melia while I still can."_ I thought to myself. Alvis took the lead again, and the door to the Tomb opened. We all walked inside. I hope we aren't too far behind.

Melia POV

" _The ancestral alter lies deep beneath the seals. What trials await me, I wonder? I must not lose focus!"_ I thought as I entered the Tomb. I walked down for a few minutes, until I came by another door. This one had a small, blue circle near the top. I wasn't sure if that was some sort of camera, or perhaps something to do with security measures.

"2512 cycles since last visitor. State you name and purpose." A voice replied. I saw then it was indeed a camera, and it also served as a scanner for security. So in a way, it was both.

"Melia Antiqua. I have come to be judged on my legitimacy to the throne by the ancestral spirits." I replied.

"Permission granted. Commencing analysis of genetic data." It said. Afterwards, the blue node at the top of the door activated, and my entire body had been scanned from top to bottom. Shortly after that, the door had opened. I knew that whatever trials await me inside, I will face them, and I will come back alive. Slash is waiting for me.

Slash POV

As we entered the Tomb, I couldn't help but notice the temperature in here. It was cold. Considering where we are, I could tell it didn't seem natural. But there was something else about it to me. Something familiar. Maybe I had been here before?

"It's so cold." Sharla said.

"There are remnants of ancient spirits in here. This is no ordinary chill." Dunban said. I guess that explains why chills keep running up and down my spine, but I didn't mind. Matter of fact, it felt great.

"As I explained before, Dunban, the defense systems are designed to prevent uninvited-" Alvis said, but was cut off by Reyn.

"Well, what does this do?" Reyn asked, looking at a button sitting in front of the door. Luckily, I had my eye on him.

"Don't touch that!" I shouted. But when I shoved him out of the way, he had already pushed the button. Then, my body had begun to get scanned. I didn't move, everyone was staring at me, and I was scared to think what was going to happen now. When it was finished scanning, a voice started to speak.

"Curious. A being who has the genetics of the High Entia, and of the Telethia. DNA shows similarities, but not a match. Intruders must be removed." It said. Almost immediately after it said that, the floor beneath our feet just vanished. We all started falling, except for Riki, who tries to fly, but failed seconds after. We fell for about a couple minutes, then we landed in some water. It hurt. Water is in no way soft. Riki just floated on the water like he was full of air. The rest of us had to swim to get some air. As soon as I got a breath of fresh air, I glared at Reyn. Of all the times to be an idiot, it had to be now. Time was already against us, and he made things even worse for us.

Needless to say, I was angry enough to kill him.

 **(OK. Here's the next chapter for you all, and I'm already working on the next one, seeing as how it may take a while. So I'm trying to shorten the wait a little. I also got plan for a Super Smash Brothers Fanfiction after this that will included Slash, but again, after this one. As for Slash being a character for the actual game-play, that will also take a while, but I've gotten some good arts in. I am afraid of making him godlike. Both there and here. So tell me what you think, leave a review, and I'll get back to you all as soon as I can.)**


	13. Chapter 13

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(I'm back with the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the last one, and I also hope you enjoy this one as well. As for Slash's capabilities, I will give you some of his arts after this chapter. But for now, sit back, get something to drink, read, and review afterwards.)**

Chapter 13

Slash POV

We all got out of the water, and started shaking ourselves dry. Reyn was the last one to get out. I kept glaring at him since we fell in. I was angry with him, and everyone knew it. They all saw my glare. Riki was a bit scared of it, seeing as how he never saw me angry before. I'm not trying to scare him, but its not like I can help how I feel right now. Melia is here in the Tomb, the trials alone are a great danger, her step-mother, Yumea, orchestrated her death, my ex-girlfriend, Tyrea, was more than happy to end her, the clock was ticking, and Reyn just made us take the long way. How angry do you think I am right now?

"Who puts a great big hole somewhere like that?!" Reyn shouted. I clenched my fists in my anger. Of course he wasn't listening for at least half the time.

"As I explained, it's a defense mechanism." Alvis replied.

"What a mess, Reyn." Shulk said.

"Friend not clever touching button!" Riki added.

"I'm with these guys, Reyn." Sharla said. I honestly didn't see that coming. I thought she would at least try to back him up like she did me.

"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen? What about your visions?! You'd think the 2 of you could come up with something!" Reyn tried to put the blame on Shulk and Alvis, but it wasn't going to happen like that.

"You know it doesn't work like that." Shulk reminded him.

"It would have been useful, yes." Alvis added.

"Pair of fortune-telling frauds." Reyn said.

"You were the one who got us into this mess. Things are already bad enough as it is. We are pressed for time, and you just had to go and do something stupid again, didn't you? If I wasn't stressed out before, I am now." I told him.

"This wouldn't be the first time either." Shulk added.

"Riki agree with Shulk and Slash!" Riki said. Thank you for your support, little guy.

"Why's it my fault all of a sudden?" Reyn asked. Are you kidding me? Please tell me he's kidding.

"This time it is your fault." Sharla said, putting the emphasis on the 'is'.

"Precisely." Dunban finally said.

"Well…" Reyn tried to think of a comeback, but he was stumped. At that point, my anger finally came out.

"Don't you remember when I tried to tell you to use your head more often? Or did you just feel like ignoring me yet again? I am getting really sick of your company, Reyn. Physically, you may be the strongest. However, all of that strength will go to waste, because you can't even think to save your own life, let alone anyone else. Melia is scheduled for death. My girlfriend is going to die, and you are hurting us more than helping us! If I find so much as a single scratch on her when I see her again, I will not be held responsible for whatever happens to you." I scolded. Reyn seemed to have gotten the message, seeing as how his head hung low in shame after that. As I vented my anger, I could feel my power growing, but I didn't really pay any mind to it, until Shulk told me something I wouldn't have noticed.

"Hey, Slash?" He started.

"Yeah?" I replied bitterly. I didn't mean to, but can you blame me for my anger?

"What's with your eye? And the rest of you for that matter?" He asked me. I walked over to stand by the edge of the water, and I looked at my reflection. The iris of my eye had turned into a glowing green, and the pupil looked like a reptile's eye. The rest of my body had a green aura around it the same color as my eye currently was. I didn't think on it right away. After all, I needed to protect Melia. I knew she wouldn't last long against Tyrea.

"It doesn't matter right now." I told him.

"You sure, man? That doesn't look right. I mean when do you-" Reyn started, but I had enough of him.

"SILENCE!" I shouted. Everyone backed away from me, and flinched when I said that. I didn't just shout that out. My voice shifted a bit as well. It sounded like a Telethia roared at the exact same time I spoke. The aura around my body grew a bit more violent as well. I was starting to scare everyone, but only one person could calm me down now, and that is none other than Melia herself. Everything became quiet then. You could hear a pin drop on the ground, or a drop of water hitting the pool. After I said it, it truly became silent. No one said anything for a minute.

"Slash, you need to calm down. This is only a setback. We'll still get to Melia in time." Dunban tried to reassure me, but failed. My anger didn't relent. It was only growing.

"Sorry Dunban, but seeing Melia is the only thing that can calm me down now. I'm not in a good mood, and Reyn. If Melia has so much as a single scratch on her when we get to her, I'll make sure you suffer for it." I told them. Reyn wasn't just scared of me. Now, he was petrified with fear. He knows I'm not joking, and the others are aware of this. But I knew we had to move. "Come on. Let's get going. If there's one thing I remember about this place, its how to get around. Follow me." I added, walking to the nearest door. It opened once I was in front of it. The others were close behind without objection.

"Slash. We will rescue Melia. I already lost Fiora, but I won't let you suffer through what I had to as well. Believe me, Slash. We can change the future, and we will. No matter what it takes." Shulk told me. What he said honestly surprised me, and calmed me down a little. What he said was genuine. It made me happy, knowing that if nothing else, Shulk had my back.

"Thank you, Shulk. That means a lot to me. More than you could ever know." I told him. It truly touched my heart that he was here for me. He understood what I was feeling, and was willing to help me cope with it. If only I could express my gratitude in some way other than a simple thanks. But knowing that would have to come later, we walked into the next room. The door locked itself behind us, and something else opened. I looked up, and saw a security drone dropping from a hatch in the ceiling. I grabbed my glaive, and extended it to its full length. The others were about to do the same, and ready their weapons, but I needed to let out some of my anger.

"No. I'll handle it. It's only the one drone." I told them. They stopped, and backed away from me. The drone immediately turned to face me, and saw my glaive. It knew I was a threat, and charged straight towards me. I didn't move, and waited for it to come closer. When it was right in front of me, my speed kicked in once again, and I showed no mercy, nor weakness. But it wasn't just my speed that increased. Everything about me grew stronger in that kick as well. I stabbed the center of its body, ripped it out, and kicked it away. I then ran up to it, and let loose a flurry of stabs. I stabbed it over 50 times before I decided to end it. I twirled my glaive, as if it were a staff, in front of my body. The blade was leaving marks on the ground in front of my feet, but I didn't care. Then, I tilted it forward, and the blade started to graze the drone. The further I tilted, the more it cut. I had to adjust my body to keep it going, but it didn't matter to me. Finally, when the blade reached the bottom of the drone, I stopped it, and held it away from my body in my right hand. At first, nothing happened. But the second my glaive was shortened and portable again, the drone fell apart before me. When I looked back at the others, the word 'shocked' didn't do it justice. They were way past that.

Shulk POV

"Wow. Just… wow." I said. What Slash did with his glaive was something I didn't think to be possible, until now. He had torn that security drone to pieces, relieving his anger.

"I know, man." Reyn said. I looked, and saw surprise, and a bit of fear, on his face. I don't blame him. He got the blame for putting us here, and Melia is in danger. And Slash and Melia are in love with each other, from what I've seen. Slash's abilities alone are reason for worry, but his anger only adds to it. Somehow, I get the feeling that we haven't seen Slash at his worst yet. He may still have room to release even more rage, should something provoke him. Seeing him as angry as he is now has nearly petrified me with fear. Can Slash reach a level of fury beyond that? Just the thought of that makes me shudder.

Dunban POV

I knew Slash was a gifted man. Being half Telethia, and an Inquisitor for his entire life are something to marvel at. But this rage of his is something different. Seeing Slash fight like that makes me wonder if that was Slash fighting, or if there was something else at play. No one else may have noticed, but I have. In his anger, he has turned more brutal. That is common with anger, but that is not what makes me wonder. Its the fact that he was far less concerned for his own safety. He didn't seem to care about his own well being at all. I could see it in his fighting style. Nothing but attack, and no defense. He must realize that we need him at his best if we are to save Melia. However, Slash may be brutal and merciless in a fight, but he is not cold and uncaring. Something is not right.

Alvis POV

" _The power Slash wields is incredible. And this is only the second stage of his anger. I wonder how much further he can go, but there is the risk of the Telethia blood in his system. Would it run wild? Perhaps it may tear at his body if he strains himself. Or is it possible that Slash will be fine? Normally, he is in control of his emotions. Whenever I have seen him with Melia, nothing seemed to bother him in the slightest. Even when he wasn't with Melia, that same observation applied. So why is that different now?"_ Alvis thinks to himself. I couldn't stop thinking about Slash, and what had just happened here. Whatever is going on with you, Slash, I hope nothing happens to force you over the edge. Although seeing your potential would be incredible, the risks suggest that I would rather not witness such a thing.

Slash POV

Everyone kept staring at me in disbelief, except for Dunban and Alvis. They were eying me with more curiosity, but there was still fear present inside of them. I started to wonder why, until I looked back at the drone I had just sliced to pieces. That made it clear. I was cold, merciless, and my anger is getting out of hand, but I can't let it go until I see that Melia is OK.

" _Tyrea is getting closer to executing the plan and Melia with each passing second. We need to get moving before its too late. If Melia is hurt, Tyrea will pay with her life, and Reyn will know pain for putting where we are now. But that can wait until I get there."_ I thought. I know my anger makes me seem a bit more harsh. I know it makes me colder than normal, but doesn't it do that to everyone?

"Are we gonna get moving or what?" I asked them. They snapped out of their dazes, and nodded in agreement to me. I reattached my glaive to the strap, and moved to the next door. It opened up to another hallway. I knew I went the right way then, and moved forward with the others close behind. Reyn stayed in the back with Riki, seeing as how they are the most scared of me. Dunban and Alvis are in front of them, still curious about my anger, and how it is connected to my abilities. Sharla and Shulk were directly behind me. They were both worried about me, and why I can't seem to calm down. After a minute of walking, I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder.

"Slash." I heard Sharla say. "Are you doing alright?" She asked me, not taking her hand away.

"Still angry, but otherwise fine." I said, with the tone of my voice sounding as bitter as I was feeling. Sharla noticed this, and tightened her grip.

"Seeing you like this is worse than back at the ether mine, when I thought you had…" She couldn't finish that, but I knew what she was talking about.

"What does it matter?" I asked, my tone of voice not changing.

"Slash, you know the answer to that. You're our friend, and it hurts to see you like this. You're scaring us, Slash." Sharla told me. My unrelenting anger made it so I couldn't care less. Nothing she was saying was getting through.

"Tell it to someone who actually cares." I said in my anger.

"But-" Sharla tried, but I cut her off.

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, once again as if a Telethia roared with me simultaneously. Everyone flinched at this. "Seeing Melia OK is the only thing I need to calm down. You know that. Until I see her again, I won't calm be able to calm down, so get used to it while you still can." I finished with venom clearly dripping in my tone. My anger made it hard for me to see them as my friends. At this point, if they don't stay out of my way, someone will get hurt. Or, if I'm pushed hard enough, someone here will die at my hands. Unlike the others, I don't mind the sight of blood. After all, I grew up with assassins. Blood is spilled every day at least once for me.

Melia POV

I was walking down a long hallway to my first trial. After a few minutes, I stopped in front of the door, making sure I was prepared. However, before I could open the door, I heard something. I nearly jumped when I heard it. Did I just hear a Telethia?

"How is that possible? A Telethia inside of the Tomb? Where?" I asked, thinking aloud. I waited a couple of minutes, thinking something would happen. Nothing came to pass. "Could that be my trial?" As soon as I said that, I regretted it. The thought of another Telethia acting as my trial made me want to leave. But I knew I couldn't. I had to stay and prove my legitimacy to the throne. I had to be strong for Slash, so I could return to him.

I opened the door, and moved forward. I saw an empty room with nothing but open space. Perhaps this would serve as a battleground for my trial. I walked to the center, and merely looked all around while I was there. Once again, expecting something to happen, nothing came to be. I started walking, moving on from this room, but when I tried to open the next door, it refused to move for me. I looked back, and noticed a security drone now in the center where I was standing moments ago. I grabbed my staff, and prepared for battle. The drone noticed this, and began moving towards me.

" _Slash, you taught me a few things before that day. I couldn't utilize your lessons against the Telethia, but today, I will put them to good use."_ I thought. I felt ready for this, and I was. I ran at the drone as fast as I could. It attempted to intercept me, but failed as I swiftly changed direction. Now, I was running around it. The drone kept a close watch on me and my movements, but didn't try to attack at first. Using my control over ether, I managed to summon a small flame, and keep it close. The drone moved in to attack, but it would not get the chance. I ran the other direction, quickly turned around, and threw the small flame at it. It was unable to dodge as the flame hit it in the center of its body. While it was recovering, I refocused the ether into an electrical orb above my hand. The drone made its move against me, and tried to ram me. I jumped to the side, avoiding it. When it turned to face me again, I had already thrown the orb, and it hit the same spot as the flame did, weakening it further. Once more, I used my ether to create an orb of water this time. In its weakened state, I used the water, and hit it hard. Although the water itself didn't do much damage, the effects that came afterwards finished it. The drone was not waterproof on the inside, and my attacks had broken pieces of of armor, allowing my water to seep in. The drone short-circuited and fell.

I started walking again, and went back to the door, as soon as I touched the door, I heard another Telethia roar. As if a repeat of last time, I nearly panicked, and attacked the first thing a saw. Luckily, it never came to that, but I couldn't help but wonder where it was coming from. Or rather, why would there even be a Telethia in the Tomb?

" _I don't understand this. That's the second time I've heard that roar. If there is a Telethia here, where could it be? Will I need to face it in the next trial? Could it serve as a last resort, should something go wrong? Is it trapped in here somewhere? Whatever the case, I hope I do not see it while I am here."_ I thought. I opened the door, and moved on. The next trial awaits, and I won't be stopped. I will prove myself here. I just hope I'll be able to see Slash again.

Slash POV

We all kept moving down the hall. Everyone had decided to give me my space, seeing as how I can't let go of my anger. I'll admit, that was a good choice on their part. Even so, they were still worried about me, seeing me like this.

" _Let them be afraid of me. If anything else gets in my way, I'll tear it apart. Mercy only belongs to the weak, and I am not weak. I finish the job. I don't care if they're begging for their lives. If its my job to kill, then I kill. It's just that simple."_ My thoughts started telling me. In my anger, I agreed with it. Melia is the only person that matters to me. More than my own life, my friends, or my past. She had better not be hurt in any way. That is all I can say.

Sharla POV

" _What is wrong with you, Slash? This isn't like you at all. Why are you acting like this? You shouldn't take out your anger on us."_ I kept thinking to myself. Slash is already scaring me, but pushing me away like that just makes me wonder what is happening to him. I want to know what's happening. I want to be able to help him, but I can't do that if he won't let anyone in. I thought Shulk might be able to do it, so I moved closer to him.

"Shulk." I whispered to him.

"What is it, Sharla?" he asked.

"Do you know what's going on with Slash? You did talk to him earlier, and he didn't push you away like he did me." I answered. Shulk hesitated for a minute.

"He really wants to make sure Melia is OK. He doesn't want to lose her a second time. But still… The way Slash is acting is off, even if he is angry. Last time, he separated from us to blow off some steam." Shulk told me.

"I remember that. It was Reyn's fault there too."

"Yeah. It looks like Reyn just gets on Slash's bad side. Now, he got all of us there."

"Seems like it. But can you talk to him? You might be able to calm him down a little." I asked him. Shulk hesitated again.

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises." He told me.

"OK. Good luck." I told him. Shulk walked up next to Slash. He didn't even look in Shulk's direction. Somehow, I don't think this will go well.

Shulk POV

"Hey, Slash." I said to him. He didn't respond. I tried again, a little louder. "Slash." Still nothing. One more time then. "Slash!" He finally looked at me, but still didn't say anything. His eye had turned again. The iris was glowing green while the pupil was a small, vertical slit, like that of a lizard or a snake. The aura around his body also seemed to shrink to give the appearance of a light, gentle flame coating his body.

"What is it, Shulk?" He asked me, his tone sounding harsh.

"Are you alright? I know your worried about Melia, but are you sure you're doing OK yourself?" I asked him. He looked away, and made a right turn once we came to an intersection. He didn't say anything right away.

"You already know what it is like to have love and lost. Do you admit it?" He asked me, confusing me for a second until I realized what he was referring to.

"Yeah. Fiora was the best thing to happen in my life. I wish I would have said something before…" I couldn't finish. It was too painful to remember.

"I know it, you know it, Sharla knows it, and Melia knows it. But I have another chance to prevent it. I won't fail this time. Or ever again, if possible. Melia and I have been through enough pain in our lives. We all have. Whatever happens next, know that I will change that, even if it means I have to bloody my hands once again." He paused for a minute. "Even if its yours." He finished. I stopped after he said that. Was he really willing to go that far?

" _This isn't the Slash I know. He would do almost anything to help us, or protect us. But willing to kill us for getting in his way isn't right. I know you better than that, Slash. I know you're upset. Words won't get through to him, but maybe fighting alongside him might help him realize he's not alone in this."_ I thought. Sharla walked back up to me.

"What did he say?" She asked me. I was honestly afraid to say it to her.

"He said that…" I couldn't quite say it.

"Well?" She persisted.

"He asked if I knew his pain. When I told him I did, he said he would do anything to stop Melia from getting hurt. Even if it meant…" I still couldn't finish it.

"Shulk. What is it?" Sharla asked.

"Even if it meant he had to kill us to do it." I finally said. She froze with fear and disbelief. I still can't believe Slash said that to me. I looked back in his direction, only to notice that he walked through another door. I grabbed Sharla's wrist, and ran to catch up. When we did, he had stopped, and just stared straight ahead. We were standing on some kind of balcony. There was a platform in the center of the room, and 2 bridges connected to it, but they were on opposite sides of the room, and we could reach either one.

"How do we get over there?" Reyn asked.

"Like this." Slash said. He walked over to the right side of the door, facing a wall. I noticed it looked very rough and worn. There were pieces of stone jutted out of the wall, making it over to one of the bridges. He grabbed onto the rocks, and started climbing up. Then, once he was high enough, he began moving to the right, towards the bridge.

"I'm not too sure about this." Reyn said.

"That's OK. I'll finish the job myself then. After all, what good is your muscle if you can't pull of a simple climb?" Slash said, with a bit of a mocking tone. I saw what he was doing.

"Hey! What makes you think I can't climb this?" Reyn shouted back at him.

"Dunban is doing it, and he only has one arm to use. You supposed to be as strong as him. Maybe even stronger, but your letting fear control you. Even Riki is doing better than you, and he's a Nopon. If that's the case, turn back and go home. Fear is for the weak, as is mercy." Slash said. Reyn looked pretty mad after Slash said that.

"Weak?! I'll show you weak!" Reyn shouted, and climbed after Slash. Alvis went after Reyn. Sharla went next, and I followed close behind her. She was moving slower than usual. After hearing what I told her, I don't really blame her. However, considering where we are right now, I hope we get there soon.

Slash made it to the bridge, and back-flipped off the wall, landing on his feet. Dunban jumped off too when he got there. Riki jumped off, and bounced a little bit while saying how fun he thought it was. Reyn just climb down until his feet touched. Alvis did the same. Sharla was a little hesitant when it came to letting go of the wall, but she did. I just did a short hop, and turned to face the others.

"Good. Everyone's here." Slash said.

"You'd better believe it! Told ya I could do it!" Reyn said.

"But you didn't beat your fear. You just wanted to prove me wrong." Slash answered back.

"What're you saying? You think I'm still afraid of climbing?!" Reyn was starting to get mad again.

"If you're really not still afraid, look down, and we'll see what happens." Slash shot back.

"Fine!" Reyn said, and walked to the edge. As soon as he looked over the edge, he flinched. He stood there for a minute before backing away.

"Like I said, you're still afraid. I sensed your fear. You don't like heights, do you?" Slash asked. What does he have planned?

"It's not like that!" Reyn tried to defend himself.

"No? Then explain your thoughts about how long a drop it would be, or rather, why you're so high up in the first place?" Slash continued. He had Reyn backed into a corner now.

"Stay out of my head, man!" Reyn shouted.

"Should I spill your feelings for you-know-who, Reyn? Or will you just admit your fear, and accept it? You can't ignore your own emotions." Slash said. He knew something Reyn didn't want to share. He was blackmailing Reyn now.

"Fine. I'm scared of heights. You happy?" Reyn asked.

"Yes. Truth be told, I'm not scared of heights, but I am scared of falling. And I'm terrified of the thought of losing Melia. I can't deny this, nor can I avoid it. So I have accepted it, as you must do. It will make things easier for you in the future." Slash finished. Reyn couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"So I shouldn't hide my fear?" Reyn asked.

"You shouldn't deny your fear. To deny your fear is to deny a truth about yourself. Something that you should never do. You need to be aware of everything about yourself in order to search for and defeat weaknesses. Defeat your weakness, in this case, your fear of heights, and you become stronger. Some fears, such as my fear of falling, keep me on my feet. You need to exploit certain things about yourself, and eliminate your weaknesses. That is what I was taught as an Inquisitor ever since the day I was born." Slash explained. I thought about it for a moment after he explained it. It made sense.

" _I think I get it. Reyn's fear of heights weighs him down. Slash has almost no weakness or fear because of what he was taught. His fear of falling makes him stay on his feet at all times. Is this why he doesn't let go of his anger? Because he sees it makes him stronger? Is he trying to exploit a new form of strength? Not only that, but he seems like he knows the limits his body can take. He knows the truth about his physical capabilities, so he doesn't over-exert himself. And he knows he can't deny this, because to deny it would be becoming overconfident, and put himself in danger. Is he trying to teach us this now?"_ I thought. The others looked like they were thinking on it too. Even Reyn was scratching his head in thought about what Slash said.

"I think I get it. Thanks, Slash." Reyn said. Slash just smiled and nodded.

"Glad you actually understand for once. I'm grateful that this lesson didn't go to waste. I hope you all remember this well." Slash added.

"Well, I have to admit. I am impressed with you, Slash. I never would have expected something like this. Although, I do have one question for you." Dunban said. What was he up to?

"Go for it." Slash said.

"Did the Inquisitors also teach you what you said about mercy? It seems a bit too cold for you, Slash." Dunban asked.

"We are trained assassins, Dunban. We are supposed to get our hands dirty, and not even care about who it is, or what they had. I am one of the few who had been trained since childhood. In doing so, they work very hard to burn these lessons into your mind. So, to answer your question, yes. They taught me that mercy is the equivalent of weakness, and that we are to show none." Slash explained.

"I see." Dunban simply said.

"It's not like I can change my past, Dunban. Ever since I came here, my memories have been returning to me slowly. Now, I cannot seem to forget things such as that. The Inquisitors are even the reason I met Melia in the first place." Slash immediately covered his mouth with his hand after he said that. He then turned away from us, hiding something.

"What do you mean by that, Slash?" Dunban asked.

"I can't say." Slash said.

"Slash. Please tell us." Sharla said.

"You said it yourself, man. 'Don't deny yourself.' So come on, tell us what's going on." Reyn pressured. Slash seemed to panic a little at this.

"I'm not denying it. I just can't say it!" Slash shouted.

"I was always curious as to how you and Melia met. Now I am even more so. Slash, tell us what you meant when you said that." Alvis stated. It must be something interesting if Alvis thinks its worth looking into.

"Slash need tell Riki now!" Riki said. I often forget he's even here with us. Slash just shook his head furiously. Whatever it is, he really doesn't want to say it. I walked up to him, and put my hand on his shoulder.

"It's OK, Slash. We're your friends, so you can tell us anything. Don't you trust us?" I asked him. He nodded in agreement. "Then tell us. I promise you no one else will ever find out." Slash didn't move or say anything for a minute.

Slash POV

" _Of all the times for me to say something stupid! How did that even slip out?! Not even Melia knows about this! I couldn't bring myself to tell her! So why should I tell them?! This is one of those things I wish had stayed buried where it belonged!"_ I thought. It kept repeating itself in my head every time the others spoke up. I wanted it to stay quiet, but I slipped. Since when do I slip like this? Finally, I just gave in. I had to tell someone, and Melia was more deserving to know than anyone else.

"OK. I'll tell you." I said. Riki bounced in pure happiness, Reyn looked happy with this, Avis and Dunban were curious about this, and Shulk and Sharla were a bit worried about me. I honestly didn't want to talk about it, but now there is no getting out of it.

"So what's the story here?" Reyn asked.

"It started when I was about 80 years old. I looked as if I was 16 years old in the eyes of the Homs. We were training very hard, just like any other day. We were sparing with one another. At that time, another Inquisitor named Tyrea and I were seeing one another. We were a couple, and we were also the best student the Inquisitors had. Later that day, after training, Tyrea and I were called away. One of us was going to receive a mission. The job was…" I didn't want to say it right now, but I knew I couldn't run away from this.

"Well?" Dunban asked.

"The job was to assassinate the princess. To kill Melia." I told them. Everyone gasped at this. Alvis just stared at me with a blank expression on his face. Dunban was genuinely surprised to hear this, considering Melia and I are together.

"Why would they do something like that?" Sharla asked.

"Some thought a Homs half-breed doesn't deserve the throne. Others just plain hate Homs. And finally, some wanted to kill her for a promotion. If you end the life of someone who has a high position or rank, you are also able to move up a rank. If Tyrea or I managed to do this job, one of us would become the second-in-command of all Inquisitors, and eventual successor." I explained.

"I suppose that makes sense when you put it like that." Dunban said.

"Did you take that job?" Shulk asked me.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't. Matter of fact, I volunteered for it. I thought that to put someone down like this meant that they were a threat. That, and it was my first mission as well. I also wanted to prove my worth in the Inquisitors. Tyrea wished me luck, and I went for it. I often went inside the palace, and hid in the shadows, waiting, and watching Melia. Waiting for the moment she would be alone, so I could end her. As I watched her, I saw how kind she was to others around her. Even the commoners. That alone made me start to think otherwise. I asked myself 'why would they want her dead?' She didn't seem like a threat at all. She was purely innocent, kind, and I couldn't bring myself to harm her. Eventually, the time came when she was alone. She was asleep in her bedroom. So I decided to take my chance." I paused, seeing the memory as if it were right in front of me.

"Then what?" Reyn asked.

"When I looked at her, with a blade in hand, I knew she was dead. But I couldn't do it. I had to finish the job, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Every time I tried to finish the job, I couldn't swing my sword. So I just dropped it, and stood there for a moment, thinking to myself 'I'm weak, useless. I'll never be an Inquisitor.' I turned to leave, and looked at Melia one last time before walking out the door. For the first time, I noticed how beautiful she was. The next day, I decided to come out of the shadows, and meet her. The guards didn't want me anywhere near her, but she saw me, and wanted to meet me as well. Afterwards, we became close friends. I never said anything about my being an Inquisitor, or how I came to meet her. Her father, Sorean, was happy to see his daughter had made a friend in me." I stopped there for a minute. This next part started to hurt me a little.

"What happened next?" Sharla asked. I didn't want to continue, but I may as well.

"Well, I returned to my home with the others, and Tyrea. They kept asking me what was taking me so long. I told them I was gaining her trust. Tyrea didn't really believe it, but I barely manged to convince her. As we talked, something felt off. Tyrea and I always had a spark between us. But somehow, that spark faded from me. I grew more distant towards her as the years went by. Tyrea wasn't happy about this. Eventually, I just ended our relationship. Tyrea was furious with me, and even tried to kill me. We've always been an even match with each other, so that match ended in a draw once again. Afterwards, I slipped away. Later, Melia and I were together in the garden for a bit, sitting down in the grass, smelling the flowers and such. I never felt at such peace, but never so conflicted either. Melia noticed this, and asked me what was wrong." Once again, I paused. This was only getting harder and harder for me to talk about.

"Keep going, Slash. You're doing great." Shulk told me. I nodded and continued.

"I told her that my girlfriend and I broke up, and that she never wanted to see me again. She felt sorry for me, but I didn't care at the moment. She started to tell me why something like that would happen to someone like me. She kept saying how much of a gentleman I was, how kind I was, and so on. She also said that to dump someone like me was nothing short of a big loss. I felt better, but curious as well. 'Why is she telling me this? Is she just saying that?' Those were my thoughts at the time. I looked at her, and saw she was blushing a little. I asked her if she was alright, and she told me that she didn't know. I started to get worried about her. I moved closer to her, and cupped her cheek in my hand. I wanted to know if she was OK. What happened next came as a shock to me. As soon as we looked into each others eyes, I froze in place. I felt I was being hypnotized, but also, I was just fine. Neither of us moved from our position, or looked away from each other. Her blush had gotten bigger, while I started to blush myself. I didn't know what I was doing, but I started to lean closer. She did the same. Then, we shared our first kiss together." Sharla and Riki thought that was adorable.

"Aw." They said. I started blushing again.

"Anyways, we grew closer since then. Whenever no one was looking, we started cuddling and kissing each other as if there was no tomorrow. It made me happy that Melia cared for me in such a way. Once or twice a week, we even slept in the same bed together, holding each other close. I always had to sneak in, so her father wouldn't notice. I didn't want to upset him with that knowledge. When Melia had turned 90, she was at the age to be married. I wanted that to happen between us, but it had to be perfect. For the next year, I traveled around the Bionis looking for materials to make her a ring. I often took her with me, so she could see more, experience more, and feel more. I never told her what I was planning, but we always had a good time. When I finally had the materials, I started working on it. It took me several tries, but I finally finished. The day I was to propose to her, with that ring in hand was the day Metal Face attacked. Need I say more?" I finally finished. No one said anything for a while. I assumed they were just trying to take it all in.

"Wow…" Reyn said.

"I never realized…" Dunban said.

"Sound like fairy tale to Riki! Slash and Melly live happy together forever now!" Riki said. I blushed even more after he said that.

"That is quite a story, Slash. I can hardly believe it, and I've seen you and Melia together on several occasions." Alvis said. I was surprised. He didn't really seem to care.

"So now what?" I asked. I had a few thought in my head how this would turn out. Unfortunately, none of the outcomes were good.

"We're going to get Melia back." Shulk said. I looked at him, shocked that my story didn't seem to bother him.

"What?" I asked in my disbelief.

"We're going to get her back. It doesn't matter what you were sent to do, Slash. What matters is the choice you made. If you didn't make that choice, Melia wouldn't be here now. Mercy isn't weakness, Slash. Sometimes, to show mercy takes an incredible amount of strength." Shulk continued.

"Shulk…"

"Do you love her, Slash?" he asked me.

"More than life itself." I answered.

"Then the past doesn't matter. Come on. Let's go." Shulk said. I smiled, and finally felt myself calm down. Things are looking up for me now. I am lucky to have good friends.

 **(OK everyone. Sorry this came out later than I thought it would. I had it planned to come out for you on Christmas. But, I'm sending it now, so consider it a late Christmas gift from me to all my viewers. On that note, I hate writers block so much. I hope you all had a great holiday, and I also hope you have a great New Year. But before I leave, I'll finish with a few of Slash's arts.**

 **Talent art: Stance Change**

 **Allows to switch from a single blade to a dual blade. Light damage all around user. Includes knock-back and decreases aggro.**

 **Single blade provides higher damage and critical hit capabilities. Dual blades provide more speed, chance of double attack, and higher block rate, but damage is reduced to half.**

 **Single Blade: Blade Dash**

 **Dash in a straight line a short distance. Slices the opponent along the path, and can be used to push past an enemy, or to quickly close the distance. Light damage, short cool-down, and inflicts Break. A physical art.**

 **Double Blade: Armor Wreck**

 **Attack the opponent twice, weakening their armor. More moderate damage, somewhat longer cool-down, and reduces physical and ether defense. When upgraded, further reduces defense and increases duration of debuff. A physical art.  
**

 **There you are. I'll have some more for you next time. If you have any suggestions, send them to me, and I'll see what I can do. I hope you liked this chapter, and the next chapter is on its way.**


	14. Chapter 14

All's Fair in Love and War

 **(Hey, everyone. I'm back. I will tell you 4 more of Slash's arts after this chapter. This took a while, but it was worth it. Enjoy.)**

Chapter 14

Kallian POV

I have spent hours looking through Slash's file, trying to find anything that may provide a connection to delve deeper into his past. He did look familiar. A bit too familiar. Which raises the questions that simply will not cease to annoy me. Who was this man? How does he know Melia? How much has changed? And why is he half Telethia? There are many more, but I'm afraid there are too many to recall at the moment.

The note and its handwriting, along with the ring, have done very little to aid in my search. I am also worried for Melia's safety. She is my little sister, and although I am of royal blood, that doesn't mean I am emotionless or heartless. I care for her deeply. Sometimes, I look up to her for strength, knowing that she is capable of so much. However, I could not think on these matters for long, as one of the doctors I have secretly appointed to analyze a sample of Slash's blood ran into the room.

"You Highness!" He called out to me. He seemed to be panicking about something. Had he discovered something?

"What is it? Have you learned something?!" I asked, eager to know if the doctor had indeed learned something about Slash. If he has, perhaps I could further narrow the search, and finally find a match. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but it did peak my interest.

"It's Slash's DNA. I'm afraid it's incomplete!" The doctor said. How can something like that even be possible? No one on the Bionis could even be alive if that were the case.

"How can that be?!" I asked.

"It would seem the Telethian DNA in his blood, and his High Entia DNA are separate. 2 halves of the same whole, so to speak." The doctor began.

"Go on." I told him.

"In doing so, it seems they are independent strands. One can survive without the other at the moment, but there is also no rejection of any sort within him." He continued.

"What are you saying?!" I asked. I was beginning to grow impatient.

"I'm saying the changes to his system, his Telethian DNA, are not permanent. It is possible to remove it, but with great risk. There is also one more thing I have discovered." He added.

"Don't stop! What else have you found, doctor?!" I asked, ready to use my authority to force it out of him.

"The 2 strands of DNA inside of him…Some of them have attacked each other, destroying themselves in the process." The doctor finished explaining.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked once more. I had to know.

"Your Highness, he may not be long for this world. If this continues, his body could eventually destroy itself. If we try to reverse what has been done to him, we could end up killing him, rather than help him. And even if the 2 strands of DNA accept each other, it is a very slim chance of survival. His chances of living with this… Condition of his number to less than 1%, along with our chance of changing that." The doctor finished. The thought of his own body, his own blood, being his end was a terrifying thing. If that's true, could Slash's very existence thus far be nothing more than pure luck? Is he truly supposed to be dead right now? And if not, is there nothing we can do to prevent it when it could be sometime today he dies?

"…Thank you, doctor. You are dismissed."

"Yes, your Highness." He bowed, and left. Now I had even more questions running through my mind at the moment. But I could only focus on one specific question, now that I am aware of this development.

How long does Slash now have, if he hasn't already perished?

Shulk POV

Since Slash shared his story with us, he seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. His anger had been replaced with concern for Melia. It's nice to see he's now doing better, but that doesn't mean we can stop now. That story was enough of a break for us. We had to keep moving.

We didn't even walk 5 feet before we all noticed something. Above the platform we all climbed to was a huge blue orb. It also has a bunch of smaller orbs orbiting around it. Perhaps it was made of pure ether energy, or some other form of energy. Slash seemed drawn to it for some reason. I guess that meant it was made of ether.

"That is a big ball of something." Reyn said.

"It look fun and sparkle!" Riki said.

"Fun isn't the word I'd use, Riki. But it does kinda…Sparkle a bit." Slash said, kind of losing focus. We all moved closer to it, but nothing happened.

"It's not attacking us, at least." I said. Slash moved closer to it after I said that. "Slash, wait!" He stopped. He turned and looked at me, but his eye was still that vertical slit, but something was different. Now, everything except the pupil had a bright green glow to it. It was a bit intimidating, and I stepped back.

"Come on, man! Snap out of it!" Reyn shouted to him. He cocked his head a little to his left, as if he was confused.

"Slash! Listen to us! We need to save Melia! We can't allow ourselves any other distractions!" Dunban shouted afterwards, hoping to reach Slash. What was it about that orb that made him like this?

"Do you hear us, Slash?!" Sharla shouted.

"Friend stop dreaming! Friend wake up now!" Riki said while hopping up and down like he does occasionally. Slash continued to look at us with curiosity in his eye. Then, the glow started to fade away, and his eye returned to normal. He started shaking his head, finally waking up.

"Ugh…Sorry. That much ether…It just…I don't know what happened…" Slash stuttered.

"It's OK, Slash. You just had us worried for a minute there. Don't worry about it. We still need to rescue Melia." I told him. He smiled and nodded. Immediately afterwards, a bright flash of light came from the ether orb, and everything started shaking a bit.

"What's happening?" Sharla asked.

"Hey, look at that!" Reyn said. We all looked up at the orb again, and saw what looked like a pale-yellow Orluga drop from the orb. It had large metal gauntlets instead of hands that most like had weapons concealed in them, a metallic mask instead of a face, and some device on its back. I don't have even the slightest clue as to what that does, but I'm sure we don't want to find out.

"Another defense mechanism!" I said.

"At a guess, we're looking at the Tomb's guard." Dunban said.

"We're not getting past without a fight." Sharla added.

"Everyone, Melia needs us. We can't let this thing stop us!" I told them.

"No problem. Time to break my record." Reyn said.

"This is going to be fun." Slash said. Fun? What was he thinking?

Slash POV

" _Nothing will get in the way of reaching my angel. I hope this doesn't take too long, but I want to try something."_ I thought. I knew I couldn't hesitate. I'm on a time limit, and I already wasted time telling the others a part of my story. We can't waste anymore time, so I decided to get things started.

I ran straight towards the Orluga with my glaive ready in both hands. It took a swing at me. It missed, but I felt a big breeze pass by me as it did. It packed a lot of power. One wrong move, and I would be flattened. It swung again, but I rolled underneath it, and attacked its legs. It tried to move, so it could get me, but that was a mistake. As soon as it moved, the damage I did, although not much, managed to trip it. Reyn ran up, and used his shield to bash its head a few times. Shulk went for one of its arms, while Dunban took the other side. Sharla was unloading her rifle on it, while Riki was cowering behind her again. Alvis wasn't much different, but he wasn't even afraid. He was just standing off to the side for no apparent reason. Why is that?

I couldn't think on it for even a moment, as the guard started getting up. We didn't deal much damage to it. It swung at me again. Once again, it missed, but I felt that breeze again, meaning it was too close to me. I backed away, and looked for an opening. Shulk and the others were trying to trip it again, but it wasn't falling for that again. No pun intended.

It focused on me for a moment, looked around at the others for a minute, then spun unbelievably quickly for a second, knocking everyone, including me, down to the ground near the edges of the platform. I got back up, and ran to the center of the platform to attack again, but it saw that coming. The device on its back let out a big laser, and attacked everything in front of it. I was caught in it, and was thrown back again. Shulk attacked its back after I fell, and left a nasty cut in it, but it didn't flinch. It turned around quickly, and swatted Shulk away like he was nothing. It started walking towards me, intent on finishing me. When it was right in front of me, it raised its arm to smash me into the ground. When it moved to attack, I rolled to the side, used my Telethian speed to move behind it, and tried to shove it off the edge. It barely budged. Reyn and Dunban ran up quickly to help me, and it moved a bit that time. Sharla peppered its back with bullets again as we shoved it again. It was right on the edge, and lost balance. It fell over the edge, and we walked away. It was over.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." I said. Next thing I knew, I was suddenly thrown across the platform immediately after I said that. I got back up again, and looked behind me. It was still there. "Are you kidding me right now?!"

I charged at it again, but it was ready for that. It thrust both its arms out at me, using it superior reach against me. I was knocked off me feet but not far at all. As soon as I tried to get up, it threw a fist down onto my left arm, crushing it. I could hear the bones breaking when it did that. The pain was agonizing, and I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow.

Melia POV

I walked through the next hallway, and into the next room shortly afterwards. The next room was the same as the previous one, except there were 2 bridges to reach it instead of just one. I walked to one of the bridges, and stood in front of it for a moment, thinking.

" _Why did I hear a Telethian roar in the previous room? It sounded distant, but it was still present nonetheless. It seems to have stopped now, but that doesn't put me at ease. It just means that the Telethia, if there truly is one, is lying in wait. But if that's true, where could it be? Will I face it for my next trail? Whatever the case may be, I must not fail. I will return, worthy of the throne. Slash is waiting for me, and I do not wish to disappoint him."_ I thought. I finally started walking across the bridge, and made it to the other side. Once I did, the bridge disappeared, just like last time. Then, 2 more drone dropped from above.

Their bodies reminded me of a spinning top from when I was a child. They had large, armored rings around the center, protecting their cores, 2 caps further protecting the core, 1 on top and 1 on the bottom, and it had 4 smaller drone orbiting around each of them. Those were to serve as their weapons. They hovered a few feet off of the ground in front of me, waiting for me to approach. I grabbed my staff, and prepared for another battle. They saw this, and drew closer to me with caution. These were clearly more intelligent than the previous one.

I utilized the ether, and summoned a small flame, some water, and a bolt of lightning. They orbited around me as the 2 security drone drew ever closer. The 8 miniature drones suddenly lunged towards me. I managed to dodge each one, but they came very close to me. They soon returned to the bodies, preventing me from countering. They attacked again, and once more I dodged, but not all of them. One of them hit me in the stomach, causing me to bend over, and stagger a bit. Slash would not be happy if he found that bruise.

They tried to attack again, but before they could, I launched my lightning bolt at them. The electricity arched between all the drones, and caused 2 of the smaller ones to short out. I then launched my water at them, and soaked another miniature drone. Its internal systems were not water-proof as it seeped in. It shorted out, and was now completely useless, but that doesn't mean the bodies are defenseless. The remaining miniature drones opened, revealing hidden lasers. They took aim ay me, and fired. I managed to get away from them, but once more, they drew very close. I used my fire, and sent it to one of the bodies to distract it. The distraction seemed to work for the moment, and I only had to face one at the moment.

This one only had 2 miniature drone serving as its weapons. I summoned another lightning bolt, and launched it immediately. It was not prepared for the sudden attack, and lost its 2 drone, while taking more damage to itself. Now that it was defenseless, I moved to destroy it. I ran up to it, hit it as hard as I could with my spear, cracking the armor slightly, and kicked that crack as hard as I could. The crack grew in size, and created a spot where I could attack the core if my aim was precise. Thank you for training me a little, Slash.

The other drone was no longer distracted, and attempted to aid the one I had attacked. It fired its lasers at me. I got out of the way, and the lasers hit the damaged drone. I summoned lightning once more, and attacked. The damaged drone's core overloaded, and it exploded. It knocked me back a little, and burned my right sleeve a little. I won't be able to hide that from Slash. He will definitely be mad now.

The drone that was left started attacked wildly, firing its lasers everywhere around me, but not hitting me once. I looked behind me, and saw the area was in shambles. It would be very hard to move without tripping, or hurting myself now. My options for movement were limited. It fired again, aiming for me this time. It gazed my right shoulder, leaving a small cut, but nothing else. I moved closer, and attacked with my spear, while summoning more lightning, fire, and water. I launched both the fire and the water at the same time, and had them collide. Steam enveloped the area, and hid me from the drone. It circled around, desperately trying to find me. I ran towards it, nearly tripping over several pieces of rubble from the ground. When it finally saw me, its fate was sealed. I attacked with my lightning as soon as I was right in front of it, and sent out a continuous stream of energy, until it also overloaded. I managed to get away before it exploded, but I was still knocked off of my feet.

I landed on a few pieces of rubble, bruising my back a little. I groaned as I got back up, and rubbed it where it hurt a bit. Slash wouldn't be just mad, he would be furious now. I chuckled as I thought about how that would turn out. The look on my families faces as Slash scolded them for putting me through something like this. He cares for me more than he does for his own life, and I do not truly blame him for reacting the way he did. Even if I just imagined it, it was humorous.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a loud, blood curdling scream. I had heard that scream once before.

"Slash?!" I shouted. Was I imagining this? That sounded like Slash. Is he here? Why would he be? I started looking in all directions, hoping to find the source of that scream. It sounded close, so if he was here, he wouldn't be far.

Shulk POV

This isn't good. Slash is pinned down, and we're hardly doing anything to this guard. His arm is probably flattened from the blow. I couldn't just stand there. He needed help.

I ran over, and decided to use the Monado. I chose the symbol for purge. I hoped it would get it away from Slash, and give us a moment to breathe. If this didn't work, Slash would die.

"Monado Purge!" I shouted. I threw out a wave of energy towards the guard. It stumbled away from Slash, and stopped moving afterwards. Just like I hoped it would.

"Reyn! Get Slash out of there!" I told him.

"Right!" He said. He ran over, and grabbed Slash as soon as he could. Slash leaned against Reyn, and his arm looked smaller, and bent in the wrong direction.

"Dunban!" I called out to him.

"Acknowledged!" He returned. We decided to finish it, and ran over to it. Dunban started it off by attacking with everything he had. After a few seconds of that, Monado Purge had worn off, and the guard was moving again. Its attention was on Dunban, while I looked for a chance to end it. It swung at Dunban with its huge arms, missing each time. Finally, Dunban tripped avoiding another blow, but he was smiling. He gave me my opening. The guard towered over him, ready to crush him, but I got close to it, and attacked without holding back.

"Monado Buster!" I shouted. The blade grew to 3 times its length, and I sliced at its waist. It went through with no resistance. The guard's upper body started sliding off, so Dunban and I moved out of the way. The 2 halves fell on the ground, not moving anymore. We had finally beat it, but we couldn't celebrate. Slash was injured.

Slash POV

Sharla was looking at my arm right now. The only thing I felt from it was pain. Pure, agonizing pain. My own arm, because of the state it was in, was now torturing me. It I so much as tried to move it, even slightly, the pain is suddenly amplified. Why am I the one who gets hurt in these battles? I know I heal quickly, especially with Sharla around, but this is just getting ridiculous. Wait. It is ridiculous.

"Damn. Didn't think it would be that smart for a computer. Heh. Bad day for me today." I choked out, biting through the pain. And even then, my voice was strained.

"Don't move. Let me see if I can re-aline the bones before I try to help. This will hurt." Sharla warned me. I closed my eyes, and waited for it. Then, my arm was moving, and my bones sounded like they were cracking. My teeth were grinding through the pain, my right hand clenched so tightly in a fist, the knuckles were turning white, and my body so tense, it felt harder than the guards armor to me. The movement alone was painful enough, but the broken bones made it even worse. When it stopped, I sighed in relief.

"That's a little better." I said. "It's straight again, right?"

"Yeah. Now, a dose of ether should have you back on your feet. As for your arm, I'm not sure what will happen. It might heal, or it might not. That thing…Really did a number on you with that one blow." Sharla said.

"Just get this over with. We need to rescue Melia ASAP." I reminded her. She nodded, and loaded her rifle. She shot it, and the gaseous ether enveloped my body as it did before. It felt good, and my body was returning to normal. But my arm was a different story. It was healing, but not very fast compared to the rest of me. When the ether was gone, I tried to move it, but it still hurt.

"I was afraid this would happen. Your arm is far too injured. It would take a lot of time or ether to fix it as it is." Sharla told me. I was discouraged at this. My right arm alone would not do me much good. My left side was nearly defenseless without my left arm. I could use my right side more to compensate, but it would only wear me down all the faster. My stamina isn't limitless. Great, but with limits. Just like every part of me. That's how hard I trained.

"So what now? I can't be at my best if my arm is like this." I said.

"Just get some rest. We can handle the rest." Reyn said.

"Rest? I can't rest now! I need to get to Melia!" I said, getting up. But my body was still a bit weak, and I stumbled. Reyn caught me, and held me up for a minute.

"Look, man. We'll take care of it. Melia is in good hands." Reyn told me.

"This coming from you? The big, dumb brute who put us in this position in the first place?" I said, venom in my voice again. My anger was building up again.

"Watch it, Slash. Just cause your hurt don't mean I won't fight." He threatened me.

"Really now? I'd like to see you try to take me on. After all, I'd just love to see what other dumb ideas for an attack you have in that empty thing you call a head." I insulted. Reyn was ready to charge, since I clearly struck a nerve, but Sharla stopped him.

"Enough! Please stop, Slash. Reyn is only trying to help us. Why do you have to do this to him?" Sharla asked me. My answer was short and simple.

"Because he deserves it." I said as coldly as I could. "He put us down here, and now look at me. He deserves every nasty little thing I can say, and more. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's an idiotic fool who can't think to save his life. Besides, it not either of our faults we were born this way, so why fight it?" I explained. Sharla started at me for a few seconds. Then, she slapped me across the face pretty hard.

"…I thought you were better than this." She said. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

"…You're talking to an assassin, Sharla. I fight dirty. I take every advantage I get. And I don't hesitate when dealing with my enemies. To kill is the easiest thing for me to do, and what I do for a job. What made you think I was better than anything in the first place?" I asked her. The look on her face was pure disbelief. She refused to believe what she just heard me say. She wanted me to take it back, but no words came. Then, her look shifted to disappointment. She walked away, with Reyn close behind her, to meet up with the others.

"Nice one, Slash." Reyn said with disgust. Once they caught up, everyone started walking away, leaving me behind to rest. They didn't get too far before the guard's upper body started moving again. I ran to catch up, and warn them. But it wasn't looking at them. It was looking at me.

It used one of its big arms to trip me. I fell, and nearly landed on my bad arm. It tried to smash me while I was down, but I managed to role away. The others had noticed this, and were about to help, but Reyn stopped them. The guard swung again, doing whatever it could to crush me. I managed to keep my distance, but only barely out of its reach.

"I don't care what it takes. My angel is in danger, and if you think you can stand in my way…Then you can burn to DEATH!" I screamed out, the last word sounded mixed with a Telethian roar. What happened next shocked me. I threw my right hand out, and a bolt of pure ether energy came out, and blew its head off. It dropped for good after that. I stared at the guard, then turned my attention to my hand.

" _How did I do that?"_ I thought. That was the first time I did something like that. How on Bionis did that happen?

"Slash!" I heard Shulk say. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting that." I told him.

"We would've helped out if Reyn didn't stop us." Shulk said.

"I think I know why that is." I said.

"Why?"

"That's for another time. Right now, Melia needs our help. But first, I need to heal, and I know exactly what will do the job." I said, turning my attention to the ether orb in the center of the platform.

"You sure about that, Slash? That's a lot of ether energy. You might end up like that Telethia back in Makna Forest." Shulk reminded me.

"No risk is without some reward behind it. It's worth it." I told him. He looked satisfied with that.

"Alright. I trust you, Slash. Don't take too long. We'll need you." Shulk said, catching up to the others. Alvis was showing them the way now, leaving me behind. The ether orb was big and low enough for me to reach.

" _If I try this, I will die from too much ether inside of me, or my arm will heal, and I'll gain great temporary strength. Melia, my angel, I'm on my way. Just hang on a little longer."_ I thought. I reached up to the orb, and touched it. Almost instantly, I felt the ether flowing through my arm into the rest of my body.

Melia POV

I don't know how long I looked in every direction trying to find Slash. I know that scream anywhere. I heard it 9 months ago the day he supposedly died. Hearing it again terrified me. The thought of losing Slash a second time was starting to drive me mad. Then, I heard another Telethian roar. It was short, but it was still present. I nearly jumped.

" _Again with the Telethia! Where is it?! How many times must I hear that roar before I ever find it?! And what about Slash?! I know he's here! That scream was unmistakable! If something, or someone, has hurt him again, I will not be held responsible for what happens to them!'_ I thought in my frustration. However, I realized that my trial had not yet been completed, and I needed to move on. But I know I heard Slash scream. And that Telethia is around here somewhere. I just wish I knew where.

I walked to the next door, and walked through yet another hallway. At the end of the hallway, I opened the last door, and came into a large room. It seemed to be an alter, but if anything, there were only 2 large pillars with green crystal lights on them. On the other side was what appears to be another door, similar to the one back when I entered the Tomb. But it was different. It was larger, and seemed to hold some significance. Would my final trail be behind it? Or perhaps I am to be judged?

Unsure about what to do, I walked up, and kneeled in front of it. I waited for a moment for something to happen. A scanner, a trail, or some sort of defense mechanism. After a few seconds, I got an answer.

"You have done well, my descendant." I heard a voice say. I looked up to the node on top of the door. Or rather, wall.

"Descendant? Are you the progenitor of Antique?" I asked.

"Think of me as a recreation of said ancestor, possessing his thoughts and speech." He said to me.

"But he passed away thousands of years ago." I said.

"Do not mistake me for a living being. I am a replica of your ancestor. I am merely a projection of what he would be, if you were to meet him now." He explained to me, but I was still confused.

"I do not understand. But I do not suspect any falsehood in your words." I said.

"It is beyond doubt. If I could feel, I would feel joy. I am not real, but I do not lie."

"Joy? What do you mean?" He continued to confuse me.

"The results of the gene analysis show Homs gene integration of 80%. Estimates suggest evolution within 8 generations. Our wishes are almost fulfilled." What is he talking about?

"Wishes?"

"Our purpose, as decreed by the Bionis, is linked to our genetic sequence. We have spent millennia analyzing sequences to free ourselves from the curse. Only a certain gene set will unlock the mechanism and set us free."

"I still do not understand."

"It is of no consequence. I grant you this seal." I stood up at this. The node then shot a beam of light that landed on the forehead of my mask.

"Is this…?"

"It is you who will rule the High Entia. And likely be their last."

"Revered Ancestor…I…"

"Go forth and rule, my descendant!" Afterwards, the node seemed to deactivate.

"So, the spirits look favorably upon you." I heard another voice. A female voice this time. I looked over to where it was coming from, and I saw a High Entia girl with large wings, black clothing the hugged her figure, 2 blades of some kind in her hands, large wings, which meant she was purely High Entia, and she also wore a mask.

"Explain yourself. Only imperials are permitted to enter this place." I demanded.

"I am the subject of her Highness, the First Consort. I need no permission!" She told me.

"Mother's subject?" I asked in disbelief.

"No impure child of the Second Consort has the right to refer to the First Consort as 'Mother'.

"I…" I couldn't say anything.

"Besides, you should have been dead years ago, but that traitor had other plans with you! How dare you take my beloved away from me?!" She screamed out.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked her.

"Who do you think, impure brat?! How do you think you met Slash?!" She told me.

"No! That's not…" I yelled, but couldn't finish. Was that why Slash got close to me? Was he only around me to lower my guard and kill me?

"A filthy Homs half-breed has no right to the throne! Or rather, she has no right to breathe!" She screamed at me once more, before lunging at me. I grabbed my staff, and blocked her, but she was relentless. I hope I can win.

Shulk POV

Alvis took the lead, and we followed close behind. We had to start climbing yet again. We didn't to go far before stopping at another platform. The door there opened, and we walked in.

"Anyone would think we're not wanted! Are we ever going to find her?" Reyn asked out of nowhere.

"I think you'll find we had to take the long way because somebody pushed a certain button." Alvis said.

"Somebody mean Reyn!" Riki said.

"Shut it, hairball. It was just a button!" Reyn said back.

"Relax. She will be fine. We should be there shortly now if we continue on. This route will lead us to the ritual alter. But time is of the essence." Alvis reminded us.

"We've got to hurry. There's no time to lose!" I said. Alvis started walking, so we followed again. We ended up on another platform. It was just like the one Slash stayed back on, but smaller. Alvis went to a nearby wall with some rough edges, and started climbing straight up to another platform above. I looked up, and noticed 1 other platform above that one. We must be close to Melia, like he said.

After a few minutes of climbing, we made it to the top and found another button, just like the one at the entrance. Alvis pressed it, and the ceiling opened up, showing us another area of the tomb we haven't seen. This looked more like an arena, and it was in a mess. Melia must have already passed through. I looked to the side, and saw a bridge leading to an open door.

"Over there!" I said. The others saw where I was looking, and we all started running over. We grabbed our weapons along the way, and kept moving.

"A filthy Homs half-breed has no right to the throne. Or rather, she has no right to breathe!" I heard a girl scream out, then metal clashing.

"Melia… Just hang on." We all ran inside, and saw Melia trying to hold off another Inquisitor. "Melia!" I called out to her.

"Shulk?!" Then, out of nowhere, a Telethia dropped from the ceiling in between us and her. "A Telethia in the Tomb?" She asked.

"Why should you care, when you're about to meet your death?" The Inquisitor asked. We charged at the Telethia, and it moved out of the way. Reyn then went straight for the Inquisitor, but she flipped over him, and stabbed him in the back with both blades.

"Reyn!" I shouted. She pulled out the blades, and kicked him where she just stabbed. Reyn nearly fell on the ground. Melia tried to get closer to us, but the Telethia stayed between us somewhat. The Inquisitor stayed close to Melia, and seemed intent on literally ripping her heart out. I tried to reach her, but the Telethia blocked me every time I moved. Dunban and Sharla didn't have any luck themselves. Reyn tried to help Melia, since he was already over there. However, the Inquisitor was too quick for him, and dodged again. Then, she drove her blades into his side. He screamed in pain. I wanted to help him, but I couldn't even reach him right now. She attacked until he dropped from the pain. Melia tried to help him, but the girl cut her off. She kept attacking Melia, until finally she had her chance.

Out of nowhere, right when it seemed the girl was going to kill Melia, a blade hit hers, and made her miss. The thrown blade embedded itself in the wall. That sword was Slash's. I looked over by the door, only to see him run over, jump on the Telethia, and jump down in-between Melia and the other girl.

"You will not even touch her while I'm around, Tyrea." He said coldly. He eye now held a sort of deathly gaze to them. He was not in a good mood, seeing Melia as she is. She did look a little banged up.

"YOU! TRAITOR! Why do you protect her?! Why did you pick her over me?! WHY DIDN'T YOU DO YOUR JOB, AND KILL HER?!" The girl screamed out. Slash looked at Melia for a second, then back at the other girl, Tyrea.

"The answer is simple. It's because I love her. What we had is gone. You are nothing more than a jealous, ugly beast underneath that mask. The sooner you accept that, the easier what's left of your life will be on you." Slash said to her.

"BEAST?! You dare call me that?!" She continued screaming.

"I called you that, because that's what you are. If you want to hurt my angel, you'll have to KILL ME first!" Slash finished. Wait. His angel? That's what he calls Melia?

"Slash…Thank you." Melia said. She had a mask of her own on, but I could tell she was blushing. Fiora would be if I called her something like that.

"Leave Tyrea to me. Help the others." He told her. She gave him a quick hug, and ran over to Reyn to treat him. I hope you know what you're doing, Slash.

Slash POV

" _And to think I used to see something in you. If I had known about your emotional issues beforehand, than I wouldn't have dated you in the first place. You were always jealous of Melia. And you were always jealous of the other Inquisitors for even getting near me. You truly are nothing more than a monster if you are willing to go as far as to kill your own sister for something as petty as jealousy."_ I sent to Tyrea's mind. She was now hearing what I just thought to her. He clutched her head when she heard my voice in there.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" She cried out. I took the advantage, and charged her. I wasn't using any weapons at the time, but they would be nearby. I grabbed her by the collar, and threw her away from the others, so we wouldn't be interrupted. While she was getting back on her feet, I grabbed my sword, and sheathed it. She looked directly at me, and even with the mask on, I could tell she was glaring at me.

"Enough of this, Tyrea. Our matches have always ended in draws. Let's see who finally comes out on top!" I said, grabbing my glaive, ready for battle.

"If I can't have you, NO ONE CAN!" She screamed, then charged at me. Her speed surprised me, and she nearly impaled me, but I managed to dodge.

"If that is how you truly feel, then I'm left with no choice but to put you out of your misery. Sorry, but that's just how it is." I returned. She charged again, only for the same results. She must have been training hard in my absence. She then stayed close to me, and thrust her blades at me like there was no tomorrow. Right now, that seemed quite literal. I deflected each blow with my glaive, currently going my own pace instead of using my Telethian abilities. I needed to know what she could do.

She spun, and kicked my side with her right foot. I couldn't gran her foot, seeing as how she pulled it back quickly once she hit. She threw one of her blades at me. I moved to the side, but she saw that coming. She used her now free hand, and grabbed my glaive, pulling me toward her. I wasn't going to give up my glaive, and she knew it. She then tried to impale my heart once more with her second blade. I bent over backwards as far as I could go. Unfortunately, it was a bit too far, but I could use it. I let go of the glaive, and fell on purpose. She then attacked using my weapon against me. I rolled away, but she was right in front of me in seconds. I had no choice now.

As soon as she swung again, I used my Telethian speed, and slipped behind her. For a minute, she thought I disappeared, but that soon changed. I grabbed my glaive for behind her, and yanked it out of her hand. She attempted to attack again from that close, but I kicked her in the stomach, forcing her away from me. She recovered from that really quickly.

"How can you be that fast?! It's impossible!" She called out. Do I need to spell it out right now? I spoke to her in her mind. How much more proof can she need?

"For someone like me, it is very possible. I am half Telethia, after all." I reminded her.

"You cannot be half Telethia! Half of you could not be made up of those hideous creatures! I've seen what they are!" She said. She still didn't get it. The proof is quite literally my own hair. Does anyone else have hair like mine? Or what about my fangs?

"If you have a problem with half-breeds, then you'll have to kill me. I told you once, and I'll tell you again. I am half Telethia, but not by choice. I was turned into what I am now. I was experimented on, torn apart, and put back together several times overs in the past 9 months of my supposed death. You think something like that was easy for me?" I explained to her. I didn't know the details, but I did know that much. Another bit of knowledge I could have lived without.

"Do you think I'm a fool?!" She asked.

"You're a fool for not believing me. Didn't you here my voice in your head before we started?" I asked. She gasped at this. "Starting to sink in? Only Telethia can read minds, and I did that not too long ago, didn't I?" I added. She backed up one step, but stood in place, ready to kill after that.

"If you speak true, then perhaps I should rid this world of a monster such as yourself. And I'll make your precious 'angel' watch as I tear you apart, piece by piece!" She growled out, seething with rage.

"You can try, but you will fail." I finished. I was done talking. I put away my glaive, and grabbed my sword. I split it into 2, and held it in my backhanded position. Tyrea took her stance as well. Neither of us would be holding back. Now, it's time for me to put this part of my past to rest. For good.

 **(There you go. Finally finished. Really starting to hate writers block now. Maybe I should start getting back into the game. I haven't played for a while now. It might help. But for now, more of Slash's arts.**

 **Single Blade: Low blow**

 **Uses blade to cut at enemies feet and trip them. Light damage. Inflicts Topple.**

 **Single Blade: Deathly Daze**

 **Uses flat side of the blade, and hits the opponent's head hard. More moderate damage. Longer cool-down, but duration of Daze is longer than normal.**

 **Double Blade: Slice 'n' Dice**

 **2 quick slices forming an X. Then a horizontal slice directly in the middle, cutting apart the enemy. Less moderate damage. Inflicts Break.**

 **Double Blade: Lashing Leech**

 **Dashes forward, and attacks 4 times rather quickly. Opponent is drained of ether, which is used to heal the user. Light HP Steal. Moderate damage. Slightly longer cool-down than normal.**

 **There you have it. If you have any notes, send them on over. Other than that, please send me a review. If you have any notes for Slash, or his arts, let me know. I still need to work on the stats, the gear, the weapons, and so on. Plus, giving him the glaive made him a bit more complicated than I had intentioned, but I welcome the challenge. Until next time.)**


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